Little Bella Black
by Wen Jin
Summary: Nobody is born evil. When she started Hogwarts Bellatrix was a child, more specifically a pureblood, just like any other. What changed her during her seven school years? DH spoilers.
1. Field of Innocence

**A/N:** Lots of people seem to think Bellatrix was born evil. There are a lot of fics about her torturing animals at the age of five, using the Cruciatus curse when she's ten and murdering someone at fifteen. But what if she started out as a perfectly ordinary child? What changed her so much? That's what this story is about.

**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling owns most of the characters, and lyrics belong to Evanescence's "Field of Innocence".

* * *

**Field of Innocence**

_I still remember the world  
From the eyes of a child  
Slowly those feelings  
Were clouded by what I know now._

"Only one more year."

Little Bellatrix Black looked up curiously.

"One year 'til what?" she asked, one eyebrow raised inquisitively as she turned to see if her sister had any idea what their cousin was talking about. Andromeda merely shrugged, her brown eyes full of laughter.

"Until we get our letter, of course." Sirius grinned cockily, flicking his black hair away from his equally dark eyes. "Our letter from Hogwarts."

The Black children, more specifically Bellatrix, Andromeda and their little sister Narcissa, along with their cousins Sirius and Regulus, were all sitting together in a corner of the crowded ballroom, keeping themselves to themselves. Family gatherings were a fine occasion for the adults to gossip about the latest happenings, or boast of the large amount of money they were all making, but the children felt there were many things they could be doing instead of being forced to sit quietly, wearing their best and uncomfortable clothes and smiling at anyone who so much as looked in their general direction.

"Hogwarts." Bellatrix repeated, "And are you looking forward to going, Sirius?" She shot Sirius a knowing look as she spoke, wondering if he was going to openly admit he couldn't wait to leave his family. Everybody knew Sirius and his parents argued constantly.

"Of course," the good-looking boy replied, surprised. He glanced around to make sure no-one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "To tell the truth, I honestly can't wait to get out of here." he quietly told his pretty cousin, leaning toward her a little.

Someone tugged the sleeve of Bellatrix's black frock.

"I'm getting my dress dirty, Bella." Narcissa lisped, her blue eyes wide with alarm. Her long blonde hair, tied back with a ribbon, was coming loose, and she looked distinctly ruffled. Dark Bellatrix looked unconcerned, but Andromeda patted her knees, gesturing for Narcissa to sit on them. The blonde did so with a small cry of pleasure, leaving Regulus on the floor. As the youngest, the two had had to make do with the ground while their siblings occupied wooden chairs.

"You wouldn't get into so much trouble with Auntie Walburga if you just did what you're told sometimes." Andromeda said, pulling the ribbon from her younger sister's hair and freeing her curly locks, "I mean, I know she's not the easiest person to live with, but she would be so proud of you if you just gave her a reason to be."

Sirius shook his head, still grinning.

"Don't worry, Sirius, you'll get your chance next year. She'll probably throw a party when you get Sorted into Slytherin." laughed Bellatrix humorlessly.

"Oh, I'm sure of it. She keeps saying I don't have the spine to get into Slytherin, I can only imagine how relieved she'll be when I finally make it."

"Even if you don't have the spine, you have the blood." Bellatrix decided, "That's more than enough. No-one can say a Black isn't worthy of being a Slytherin. It's our birthright."

"Not for Great- great-Uncle Marius, it wasn't," Regulus said suddenly, "He was Sorted into Hufflepuff, and his father...-"

"Blasted him off the tapestry?" Andromeda and Bellatrix suggested simultaneously.

"Exactly." agreed Regulus.

* * *

"Bella?"

Bellatrix jumped. She'd been staring into the mirror, lost in thought. Her first year at Hogwarts loomed over her, it was almost time, time for her to leave her home and childhood behind. She was certain of being Sorted into Slytherin, but a flock of what-ifs was flapping inside her head. What if she didn't make it? Would her parents be very upset? Would she lose her status, the respect of her sisters, the reverence of her father?

Now the little girl shook her head as if to clear it, hastily looked away from her reflection and turned her attention to her younger sister. The seven-year-old had a white nightdress on, and her hair looked like it had just been combed, the way it tumbled in neat curls over her shoulders. With her pale skin and sweet, yet haunting eyes, she looked like a little ghost.

"What do you want?"

The blonde said nothing, simply watched Bellatrix get into bed, then ran to her and scrambled hurriedly under the covers next to her. Bellatrix was, obviously, not pleased.

"Cissy! Get out." she ordered. "Your feet are freezing! Have you been going about barefoot again? I thought I told you to stop it."

Narcissa drew her knees up to her chin and reached a hand out to hug her older sister. Bellatrix wasn't having any of that; she wriggled away and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Though she loved her sisters dearly, she disliked physical contact with them. When they attempted to hug her, Bellatrix clammed up, struggled to get away, sometimes pushed them back. Displays of affection suffocated her, she could not stand them, and she never gave any herself; they were a sign of weakness, rendered her vulnerable. Narcissa and Andromeda, Bellatrix knew meant no harm, but she couldn't rid herself of the infernal conviction that cuddles and kisses and presents were a pathetic, cheap way to demonstrate love. Her sisters knew she cared for them, and that was more important than anything- her love did not need to be accompanied by hugs. Hugs, that could easily conceal the absence of any real feeling.

Bellatrix did not want fake love.

"Cissy." she scowled, exasperated. "What do you want?"

The child's lips trembled. She resembled one of those porcelain dolls, smooth, white, unblemished, wide blue eyes open and unblinking, sitting silently on shelves till the dust got to them and they had to be thrown out. Bellatrix remembered having had a doll like that- beautiful, expensive, a Christmas present from her parents. How happy she'd been when she saw it! It looked so real, a real girl, her little baby. Not blonde, brunette, long hair tied in pigtails. Little five-year-old Bellatrix called her Callisto.

The next day, Mrs. Black had taken Callisto and placed her securely in a glass cabinet in her daughter's room, locking her away, lest Bellatrix broke her or got tugs into the beautiful brown tresses. Bellatrix wasn't allowed to play with Callisto again, only to look at her; and she had looked and looked till her eyes ached, sitting on the floor of her bedroom and staring longingly up at her doll, her baby. Three years later, Auntie Walburga had given her a horrible replacement, with a mop of wild, frizzy red hair and icy blue eyes that seemed to follow Bellatrix wherever she went. How she had loathed the doll - and loathed Walburga for giving it to her. Mrs. Black had been all smiles, of course, thanking her cousin on Bella's behalf (for she had refused to say a word), and that evening, when eight-year-old Bellatrix walked into her room, instead of Callisto's warm, familiar gaze she was confronted with Matilde's freezing stare.

A tantrum had followed, one of the worst the Black household had ever seen coming from Bellatrix. She'd screamed, ripped the curtains, cracked the mirror in her bedroom, upturned the bedside table, thrown her books down the stairs and even kicked the cat, breaking one of its legs. Then, while she was sitting on her bed, red in the face and howling, the door had softly opened and Andromeda crept in, cradling something. She had been reluctant to go near her sister, who was wild and unpredictable when angered, but had overcome her fear and gently given Bellatrix her baby before leaving the way she'd come. Bellatrix had looked down at the object and realized it was her beloved doll...but how different to the one she loved! It was quite obvious it had been thrown out with the rubbish.

A crack ran down the right side of Callisto's face: her hair was clumped together and sticky, there were dark stains on her pretty scarlet dress and she was missing a hand. Bellatrix had to admit she was quite frightening to look at now. All feelings of affection vanished suddenly. What she was looking at wasn't her baby any longer. Her baby, her child, was a sweet, pretty thing with a warm tawny gaze. The accusing, mad glare of the doll's dark eyes looked nothing like the patient, understanding look that had been characteristic of Callisto's own. Callisto didn't exist anymore, and Bellatrix understood that.

She opened the window, gave the doll a last long, searching stare, then held it out to the sky. It looked as though she were offering it to the heavens. But its appropriate place was Hell.

When Bellatrix let go, the ruined doll didn't fly up to the sky. It seemed to hang for a moment, then fell. The last thing little Bella heard before closing the window was the sound of it smashing on the ground.

"Why are Mudbloods bad?" Narcissa whispered, interrupting Bellatrix's reminiscences. Bellatrix sat up straight. She didn't particularly want to explain it all to her kid sister, but then again, no-one was too young to understand how important purity of blood was. Andromeda was usually better at this kind of thing, but Bella's contempt for Mudbloods urged her to put Cissy on guard against the people whose blood was tainted and filthy.

"Listen to me." she ordered, looking straight into Narcissa's trusting blue eyes, "Tojours Pur. Do you know what that means, Cissy?"

"Always pure." The child replied automatically, as though she had been asked this many times before.

"Exactly. Always pure." said Bellatrix, "Our family was pure from the very beginning, Cissy, and we go back hundreds and hundreds of years, you saw it on the tapestry in Sirius' house. We're related to almost every pureblood family out there: think of our second cousins, they're Crouch and Longbottom.Great-great-uncle was a Yaxley, if you look carefully you'll find the Burkes on the tapestry too- and that's only the last hundred years, I'm not tall enough to see what other families married into ours before that. So you see, since we purebloods worked hard to be worthy of using magic, we deserve more respect than common half-bloods, don't you agree? You and me too, we're going to marry respectable pure-bloods one day - it's like a race, Cissy, to see who can get the oldest, purest family to bond with ours. If you win, everyone respects you. If you lose, like Great-great-aunt Cedrella, who married a blood traitor..." She chuckled. "You get blasted off the tapestry. It'll be like you never even existed, and you don't want that, do you?"

"Anyway, mudbloods aren't like us. Some of them have had no magic in the family for generations, they don't even know about the existence of our world till they get their letter from Hogwarts! They come to our school, the school for wizards and witches, and think they're equal to us, think they can be our friends or even our superiors in some cases. Think, a person with no real history ordering about Blacks!" Bellatrix was going red in the face, her face contorted with anger. She grabbed her sister's shoulders and shook her slightly. "We're special! Mudbloods are Muggles attempting to steal our magic, they can be trusted on no account! Accepting Mudbloods is the first step to accepting Muggles...no, it's the same thing! Would you want to have anything at all to do with Muggles, Cissy, people who wouldn't respect your blood and family even if they knew how important they were?"

Narcissa didn't look convinced yet. Bellatrix sighed and let go of her, continuing in a low voice. "All pure-bloods are related in some way or another, remember that, Cissy. So every time you're dealing with one, think of them as family. If you had to choose between saving Andi and saving a complete stranger, you would pick Andi, wouldn't you?" Narcissa nodded quickly. "It's the same thing. Family comes first, so pure-bloods come first, everyone else later. We pure-bloods understand one another, but we have a couple of rules to follow. One of them is, don't talk to Mudbloods. Follow the rules, Cissy, and you'll always be on top."

The little blonde nodded and smiled. "So you, me and Andi are having a race to see who marries the best pure-blood?"

Bellatrix nodded, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"So if I win, it means I'm the best?"

"That's right. If you win, you'll be like the eldest sister and you'll be allowed to boss me and Andi about. Now go to bed, I'm tired."

Narcissa did as she was told, jumping out of her sister's bed and scampering across the room. Bellatrix's dark brown eyes followed her and only then did she notice Andromeda standing in the doorway.

"How long have you been there?" she enquired haughtily.

"Long enough to know I'm going to win this race. And by the way, nice speech, very heartfelt." the brown-haired girl replied playfully.

Bellatrix snorted, ignoring the compliment. "I'm the eldest. I'm going to marry first, which means I get to pick the best of the best."

"With that temper of yours, I wonder if anyone would want to be picked!"

"There is virtually no way anyone could refuse me. You're just jealous."

"Am I now?" Andromeda's eyes twinkled. "Okay, we're going to place a bet."

"What?"

"I bet I'm going to win. If I do, I want...I want you to give me those dress robes Mother bought you last week."

"They'll be old and shabby by the time you marry, dummy." Bellatrix said scornfully.

"Oh, that's right!" Andromeda exclaimed, "Then I want you to buy my pure-blood child a really beautiful set of robes. And you'll have them delivered with a note, written by you, which begs me to humbly accept your apology, and that clearly stated I'm the best out of us three." A moment later she added hurriedly, "Also, your child will be my child's servant."

"Deal." Bellatrix's eyes, so similar to Andromeda's except for their darker, more dangerous hue, flashed. "What a waste, to ask for robes. If I win...I'll...I'll..."

Her sister smirked. "Having trouble thinking of something you want and don't already have?"

"No, stupid." retorted Bellatrix. "I have to think about it. I'm not wasting my prize asking for robes."

The sisters stared at each other for a moment. On one side, little nine-year-old Andromeda, with tousled, thick, chestnut-colored hair that reached her shoulders, her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief and playfulness. On the other, ten-year-old Bellatrix, her hair wavy like Andromeda's, but darker, a deep, mahogany brown, and eyes of the same shade where mischief was accompanied by something stronger than playfulness...pride.

Then they looked away, and bade each other goodnight. Andromeda returned to her room, and Bellatrix curled up under the covers. So sure she was of winning, she didn't spare the bet another moment's thought.

* * *

The narrow, cobbled street was as usual buzzing with activity. Witches and wizards were everywhere, buying robes, wands, cauldrons, spell books for their children.

Because September was nearing, students of Hogwarts abounded. You could see them in Madam Malkin's trying on their uniform, in Flourish and Blotts poring over their book list, and in the Post Office, checking how much an owl to Hogwarts and back cost.

Diagon Alley was the Black sisters' favorite place to visit, because there they all found what they liked. Narcissa usually dragged her mother over to the dress robes in Madam Malkin's and spent as much time as she could trying to weedle Mrs. Black into actually buying her a set.

Bellatrix and Andromeda stuck with their father and peered excitedly into Quality Quidditch Supplies to see the newest broom model, currently the Swiftstick 00.

"Isn't it beautiful." Andromeda muttered, pressing her nose to the glass. Bellatrix stood back, eyeing the Swiftstick critically, arms folded.

"I don't know...it's not even a racing broom, is it." she stated, "The Cleansweep still leads the market there. And if you can't play on it, why would you even want the Swiftstick?"

"That's exactly what I always wonder." a voice said. "But you're wrong about the Cleansweep. It's the Comet 190 that's leading the market, and the new 200 is due out next year."

The sisters both turned to look at the stranger. It was a boy about their age, only an inch or two taller than Bellatrix, with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He had an air of self-sufficiency and was looking expectantly at the dark-haired Black, waiting for her to say something.

Bellatrix forced a laugh and looked the boy up and down.

"A Comet supporter, I see." she sneered, "I'll let you know the best broom at the moment is the Cleansweep Five, and if the Comet Trading Company thinks their Comet 200 can surpass it, it's in for a big disappointment. The Holyhead Harpies all fly on Cleansweep Fives and they won against the Montrose Magpies, who use Comets. What was the result, four hundred and twenty to sixty?"

"Four hundred and ten to sixty." the dark-haired boy replied smoothly, "I can see you know quite a lot about brooms, but I'm going to have to remind you England decided to mount Comets instead of Cleansweeps because they turn easily and are simpler to handle. Not to mention the balance is almost perfect." He smirked.

Bellatrix put her hands on her hips and replied hotly. "Exactly, and England lost to France!"

"Because the referee was French, surprise surprise."

"That's what the Comet Trading Company says! I say England would have won if they had chosen the Cleansweep."

She stood there, glowering at the boy who seemed to be suppressing a smile. When he held out his hand, Bellatrix blinked.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Rodolphus Lestrange."

"Bellatrix Black." she said grudgingly, reaching out and grasping it, "And this is my sister Andromeda."

"Black!" Rodolphus' eyes glinted. He turned to Andromeda. "Glad to make your acquaintance. So you're here to buy your Hogwarts stuff?"

Andromeda went red as she took the handsome boy's hand and shook it. "N-no. We're not old enough to go yet. Bella will go next year, and I will the year after that."

Rodolphus looked a little disappointed. "Ah, there I was, thinking I was going to have the pleasure of your company on the train. I'll look out for you next year, then." he told Bellatrix. "Oh, and my brother will be coming when you do, Andromeda. He's a bit shy, but you look like a nice girl. You'll look after him for me, won't you? He'll find Slytherin a bit of a trial."

Andromeda's face was now red as a tomato's and she looked reluctant to speak. Eventually she mustered up the courage to reply.

"How do you know I'm going to be in Slytherin with you? How do you even know you're going to be in Slytherin?"

Bellatrix guffawed and Rodolphus smiled indulgently.

"A Black such as yourself could hardly be Sorted into any House other than Slytherin," he explained with amusement, "And I think we can safely say the same goes for me and my brother. We're Lestranges, after all."

Andromeda looked blank.

"Pure-bloods, idiot!" Bellatrix hissed, looking smug. Rodolphus' smile widened and he was about to say something when a man, undoubtedly his father, came over and grasped his shoulder, an unpleasant look on his face.

"We're running late, Rodolphus." he said to his son in a deep voice, staring all the while at Bellatrix and Andromeda, "Who are they?"

"The Black girls." Rodolphus told him with a touch of pride, "Bellatrix and Andromeda Black."

The man leaned forward and peered at the two sisters, his hostile expression suddenly replaced by a wide smile.

"Why, so it is!" he cried, "Haven't seen you since you were about five," he indicated Bellatrix. "And you, you were tiny, still playing with stuffed toys." he looked at Andromeda.

"She still does." Bellatrix put in maliciously, laughing. Andromeda blinked and looked down.

"So where's your father, girls?" Mr. Lestrange asked jovially, "Lucky I bumped into you, I need to have a long chat with old Cygnus. Of course we meet every two weeks, him and me and the rest of us, but unlike the others your dad doesn't show up more than is strictly necessary, so he's not always up to date with recent events."

"He's in there." whispered Andromeda, pointing to the apothecary across the road. As she spoke Cygnus walked out of the shop. He noticed them immediately, but his attention seemed to be focused on Mr. Lestrange alone. As he stood dithering, Rodolphus' father raised a hand and called, "Good day, old chap! Tomorrow, same time, same place!" He smiled again at Bellatrix and Andromeda, then said, "Rodolphus and I will be off. I expect we'll see you on the platform, shall we?"

"What platform?" Andromeda asked, looking confused. Bellatrix shunted her aside and offered an apologetic smile.

"We're not old enough to go to Hogwarts yet." she explained, "But I'm going to be on the platform next year, Mr. Lestrange."

"Ah, not old enough..." The man repeated, "Well, nevermind, Hogwarts isn't going to run away." He patted his son on the back and murmured, "Off we go."

"See you soon then, Bellatrix." Rodolphus grinned. A second later he added hurriedly, "And you, Andromeda. Now we've met you, I'm sure Dad's going to invite you to the Christmas ball we usually host."

Bellatrix nodded. She knew about the Lestranges' Christmas ball, her parents went every year. She and her sisters had never been invited, probably because Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange thought they were nothing more than kids. The dark-haired girl felt a twinge of annoyance and resolved to show everyone at that ball that neither she, nor Andromeda, nor Narcissa were babies.

As Cygnus Black crossed the street to join his daughters, the sisters stared after the departing Lestranges.

"Who do you think he meant by 'the rest of us'?" asked Bellatrix.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe his and Dad's friends?" Andromeda snapped, "Or maybe not, maybe Dad is part of some secret society and we've only just found out."

She turned and stalked toward her father, leaving Bellatrix to stare after her. A moment later she had her younger sister by the arm and was trying to hold her back.

"Andi! Are you angry?" Bellatrix said with a puzzled frown, "What is it?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Andromeda snarled, "You did nothing wrong, I'm sure, except humiliate me in front of Rodolphus and his father! First with the brooms, then with the Slytherin thing, then the platform! What platform? I don't know anything about any platform!"

"The platform the train leaves from, the train to Hogwarts!" Bellatrix laughed, relieved to know she hadn't really done anything to upset her sister, she was just getting agitated over nothing important. "Calm down, Andi. I was just trying not to let you pass as a fool."

"Seems to me you were doing the opposite." said Andromeda, sighting their mother and Narcissa coming toward them, "Just leave me alone, Bella."

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Just like Rodolphus promised, Bellatrix and her sisters are invited to the Lestranges' Christmas Ball. 


	2. Outside of You

**A/N:** Bellatrix is still just a child, but I feel she's already started to realize that one day she'll have to choose between Sirius and Rodolphus...she can't have both!

**Disclaimer:** The usual. Harry Potter isn't mine, blah blah. Lyrics don't belong to me, but to sweet Hilary Duff. ;-;

* * *

**Outside of You**

_I can't get your attention  
And I'm so sick of him  
I've got something to say to you  
So shut up and listen _

Time flew quickly. A week before Christmas, Bellatrix was sitting on the windowsill of Sirius' room at number 12, Grimmauld Place.

"I'll never understand why your family got the manor and we're stuck here," her cousin commented, jumping on the bed and sitting on it with his legs crossed.

Bellatrix glanced at him before staring out of the window again at the grey square outside, packed with Muggles.

"Oh, because my father is older than your mother and he got the best part of the Black family fortune," she said carelessly, tugging at a strand of her wavy dark hair. "Ayway you're pretty well-off here, Sirius, don't pretend you're not."

"We don't have a ballroom."

"Cry me a river."

Sirius smirked and lay down. "So is it true that you've been invited to the Lestranges' Christmas Ball?" he asked slyly, staring at the ceiling.

"Yes. So?" Bellatrix shrugged.

"So Andromeda told me you took a fancy to that boy of theirs. Rodolphus." Sirius said the name with a pompous tone, struggling not to laugh.

Bellatrix leaped off the windowsill and was on her cousin in a moment. The pair wrestled for a minute or so, then Bellatrix, red in the face, spat "I don't like him! Andromeda's just jealous! She's the one who fancies him!"

"I'll believe that..." Sirius began.

His cousin slapped his shoulder.

"...when I see it." Sirius finished mischeviously.

Bellatrix crawled off him, a catlike leap bringing her off the bed and onto the floor, where she sat scowling.

"Admit it, Siri. You're just worried I'll marry him instead of you," she sneered.

Sirius jumped and gave a twisted shriek.

"I'm supposed to marry you?" he yelped.

His pretty cousin glared. "You know that perfectly well. Our parents are all cousins too, and they married."

The young boy laughed and winked. "That's the problem. I shudder to think what our children would be like, Bellatrix. Already it's a miracle us lot were born with no...you know..." He pointed at his head and wiggled his eyebrows. "...mental problems."

Bellatrix went scarlet.

"If that's your way of telling me you don't like me, Sirius..."

"I do like you! I just think you should keep your mind and eyes open and consider...other options."

"Like Rodolphus Lestrange?" Bellatrix asked angrily.

"Exactly."

She could take it no more. With a last glare in Sirius' direction, Bellatrix got up and flounced out of the room, slamming the door behind her. All the way down the hall she fumed. Sirius...he was saying she wasn't good enough. If his parents forced him into the marriage, it would serve him right, the arrogant twit.

-----

"Now remember girls, be polite whatever you do." Druella Black instructed her three daughters, and flicked an invisible speck of dust from Andromeda's shoulder. All the girls were wearing their very best, and the maid had spent hours on their hair, especially on Bellatrix's. According to Cygnus, Rodolphus had been very taken by her.

"Mr Lestrange has been very gracious." Mrs Black went on, "After deciding to invite you three, he thought you would like some company, some boy and girls your own age so you don't get too bored and start making nuisances of yourselves. So you're not going to be the only children at the party, there will be others. Sirius and Regulus are coming too."

"He never told me!" Bellatrix couldn't help exclaiming crossly. Nobody paid her any attention. Narcissa was holding her mother's hand and asking, "Will there be girls my age, Mummy? Do they like playing with dolls?"

The Lestranges' manor was way up north, somewhere near Scotland, so they were going to use Floo powdrer to get there. Druella wasn't very happy about it- "Just when we got them to look clean and tidy!"- but there was no alternative. The girls all lined up, Bellatrix first, and took a handful of powder each.

"As usual, speak clearly, Bellatrix." Cygnus told her. She sniffed. Travelling by Floo powder wasn't new to her; why did her father think she needed to be reminded how it worked?

Stepping into the enourmous fireplace, careful not to get soot on her robes, Bellatrix dropped the Floo powder and said loudly, "Lestrange Manor."

Green flames shot around her and after whirling sickeningly for a moment, she stepped out of an unfamiliar fireplace and found herself in a large room with a long table laid for about a hundred guests.

There was nobody about though, and Bellatrix wondered for a second if she'd gotten the wrong house. She sighed with relief as her family members arrived in quick succession, and Druella spent five minutes cleaning her daughters up before pushing them toward the door and into an even larger room than the one they had left. It was packed with people. Garlands of holly were everywhere, and the walls were covered with what looked like a thin layer of ice: in spite of that, the room was warm. Music was playing, and everybody seemed to be happy. Bellatrix couldn't see anyone her age though. She was suddenly aware that her family had moved away without her and she paused uncertainly. Where to go now?

As if searching for inspiration she looked up and noticed mistletoe right above her head, hanging in the doorway. A revolted expression crept across her face, but before she could get out of the way someone kissed her on the cheek.

Bellatrix staggered back, resisting the very strong urge to rub at the damp patch the boy had left on her face. Be polite. She could do polite.

"Er...hello, Rodolphus," she said, forcing a sickly sweet smile onto her face, "Do you know whe-"

"This way," he said with a grin, grabbing her wrist and pulling her through the crowd to where her parents and sisters stood, politely greeting the Lestranges. Mr Lestrange caught sight of her and roared with laughter.

"Our Rodolphus went straight for you, did he, Bellatrix?" he chortled, "Welcome, welcome...your cousins aren't here yet, but if you follow Rodolphus you'll meet a few of boys your age...a couple of girls too, I seem to remember. I know the Malfoy girl is here, such a sweet child, you'll make friends in no time...Sadly McNair and his son couldn't make it, the little one caught dragon pox, he's not well at all, we got the owl this morning..."

He went on and on, Bellatrix couldn't get a word in edgeways: eventually Rodolphus gestured for her to follow him, and she abandoned Mr Lestrange, who went on talking to her parents. Rodolphus and Rabastan - who suddenly joined them- led Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa to a small, comfortable side room, with several large armchairs. Some were already occupied by a gang of boys and two girls, one looking sullen, the other excited.

"Hey, Rod, are those the Blacks?" one yelled, a boy with untidy blonde hair, scrutinizing Andromeda.

"Funny, I thought it was two boys, not three girls." another laughed nastily, "Did you dress up for the occasion, guys?"

Intimidated, Narcissa hid behind Andromeda, who looked unsure what to do.

Bellatrix shook herself free from Rodolphus and marched up to the last boy who'd spoken.

"I don't have a wand," she said slowly and deliberately, seizing the front of his robes and looking terribly fierce "But if you have any problem with us, my fist is holding conferences."

The boy laughed again, but his eyes flickered sideways, not meeting Bellatrix's.

"Calm down, everyone," Rodolphus said, giving Andromeda an encouraging look, "These are Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa."

He introduced each boy to the three sisters, pointing them out.

"The blonde, he's Fabian Prewett. His brother Gideon is the one with the light brown hair, over there. Fabian's in my year, Slytherin, Gideon is a third year and in Gryffindor. Their older sister Molly is in the other room right now. She's a Gryffindor fifth-year. Anyway,the boy in the corner is Lucius Malfoy, he's a fourth year Slytherin. That girl there is his sister Malina, first year, Slytherin as well. The boy you shouted at..." Rodolphus grinned before continuing, "...is Ajax Mulciber. Next to him we have Nathaniel Avery. They're both in my year and House. Here we..-"

"And your House is...?" Bellatrix interrupted innocently, a smirk curling her lips as her eyes searched for Andromeda's reaction to the reminder of her blunder in Diagon Alley.

Rodolphus gave her a knowing look and smirked, "Slytherin, obviously."

"Perfect. Go on." Bellatrix waved a hand.

"The kids over there are Longbottoms and MacMillans..." he pointed to a group of small children playing quetly in a corner. Narcissa seemed to take to them immediately, for she left Andromeda and ran over to join them. "The boy with black hair...-"

"Is my cousin Evan." Bellatrix said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Then this here is Edmund Nott, his sister Ariadne, Damian Travers and last but not least, Gentian Parkinson."

"But that's a flower!" Bellatrix protested, disgusted with the name _Gentian_.

"I know," Gentian said humbly, "It's like a tradition, having flower names in the family."

"Not unlike the Black names, Bellatrix, which all have something more or less to do with the stars and constellations," Rodolphus intervened calmly, amused at Bellatrix's straightforwardness. "Anyway this last lot will be coming with you to Hogwarts next year, or with Andromeda..."

Bellatrix did not reply. A bell suddenly went and she looked up in alarm at the sudden noise.

"Dinner's ready," Rodolphus explained, walking to the door and sticking his head out. "Yes, they're all going into the dining room...come on, you lot!" he called. Not waiting for his friends to join him, he took Bellatrix's hand; she flinched inwardly but allowed him to guide her to the room with the fireplace she's been in earlier. Food was on the table now, and along it were seated many people Bellatrix had never met before. Her parents were at the far end with Mr and Mrs Lestrange and a group of men and women, all old enough to be parents. Bellatrix supposed they were Mr and Mrs Avery, Travers and everyone else whose children she'd just met.

"Bella, we're here."

Rodolphus pointed at the other end of the table. All the children were already seated. Bellatrix opened her mouth to protest - why couldn't they be with the grown-ups? - then closed it and reluctantly sat down.

Rodolphus took his place next to her. Opposite them, Bellatrix was pleased to see, were her cousins Sirius and Regulus.

"Howdy," Sirius greeted lazily.

"Where were you, idiot?" she hissed, grinning in spite of herself.

"Oh, I had a few more important things to look after...taming a dragon or two...fighting chimaeras...before coming here." he shrugged, then stared at the person next to her. Rodolphus, Bellatrix noticed, was looking at her expectantly.

"Oh...Sirius, this... I mean, Rodolphus," She caught herself just in time- it was basic politeness to introduce Sirius to Rodolphus, their host, before introducing Rodolphus to Sirius. "These are my cousins Sirius and Regulus. Sirius.." Bellatrix turned to him and noticed he was looking at her rather coldly, one eyebrow raised- what had she done wrong? Returning the icy stare she said cuttingly, "This is Rodolphus Lestrange." To annoy her cousin even more she added, "The boy I've told you all about."

"Yes," Sirius smirked in Rodolphus' direction, "Bella talks about you...incessantly."

"She does?" the Lestrange boy said, sounding pleased. "Nice to meet you, Black."

"Same," Sirius shrugged. His brother nodded quickly.

Bellatrix appeared to be looking down the table at her sisters, but in reality she was watching Sirius carefully. Rodolphus may have noticed this, because he sought to regain the girl's attention.

"Want to see my wand, Bella?" he suggested.

He roused Bellatrix's interest: she looked at him eagerly, then stared at the wand with fascination when he pulled it from his pocket.

"You can hold it if you like." Rodolphus offered. "Here. It's eleven inches, oak, and the core is dragon heartstring. Good for Transfiguration, said old Ollivander."

Bellatrix took the wand carefully and marvelled at the sense of power she suddenly felt. With a wand, she could do anything, she knew. Not that she particularly liked this one- it felt empty, as if its strength had been locked away. Perhaps weak people bought weak wands. Was Rodolphus weak?

"Here, I'll teach you a spell," Rodolphus said, "We're not supposed to do magic during the holidays, but the Ministry won't know it was us who did it, since this is a wizarding household. Hold the wand tight...-that's it. And point it higher."

He corrected Bellatrix's grip, then told her to flick the wand. "Gently, just a little flick, and say 'Wingardium Leviosa'."

Bellatrix tried. Nothing happened.

Rodolphus smiled encouragingly.

"Do it again. It took me a couple of times to get the hang of it."

The dark-haired girl concentrated, flicked the wand and said the words. For a moment, it looked like she'd failed again.

Then a large crystal jug in the middle of the table exploded, showering guests with wine.

While Sirius laughed and Bellatrix stared in horror, Rodolphus swore under his breath.

At the far end, Mr Lestrange had got to his feet and was staring carefully and suspiciously at each child in turn.

Bellatrix wanted to get rid of the wand. Quickly she handed it back to Rodolphus, and he stowed it away as fast as he could...but not fast enough.

"RODDY!" Mr Lestrange yelled.

At least no-one saw me using it, Bellatrix thought with a sigh of relief.

"Bellatrix!" screamed Mrs Black, whiter than usual, her voice trembling with rage.

Sirius leaned across the table toward his cousin and breathed, "You're in for it..."

Rodolphus and Bellatrix got up, both aware that every eye in the room was on them. As they headed toward their angry parents, it occurred to Bellatrix that she had never felt more embarassed; but she held her head high and tried to ignore the suppressed giggles coming from the childrens' end of the table.

She stopped when Rodolphus did, but unlike him did not look Mr. Lestrange in the eyes. She appeared instead to become very interested in the flowery pattern of the tablecloth. To her parents she was always rude and haughty, but here, now, in front of large, bulky Lestrange, Bellatrix was meek and felt tempted to hide under the floorboards.

"What were you up to, eh, Roddy?" Mr Lestrange asked his son menacingly.

Rodolphus gulped audibly, but his voice didn't tremble when he replied.

"I was...teaching Bellatrix some magic."

_No!_ Bellatrix looked up. Why wasn't he lying? He could have made something up, blamed his brother...Mr Lestrange couldn't have seen properly, not from the other end of the room...

"Bellatrix," Druella Black spoke, her voice strained, "I thought I told you no magic. The damage you cause when let loose with a wand is comparable to that of a horde of Erumpents in a room made of glass."

Trying to loosen the tension she adopted a light, breezy manner and laughed affectedly.

"Bellatrix loves to borrow her father's wand," Mrs Black informed the hundred or so people in the room, "And each time chaos and mayhem ensue. I'm afraid she doesn't have an aptitude for magic."

Bellatrix boiled with rage. It wasn't true. _Lies_. She'd only come across her father's wand three times, once when she was only four, found it lying about and accidentally made a vase vanish, and another time when she was eight and had stepped on it, causing it to set fire to the carpet. The only real time she'd used a wand had been six months previously, when she had ripped apart her mother's armchair because Druella refused to buy her a spellbook she wanted.

"Apologise to Mr Lestrange, Bellatrix." Druella ordered her daughter amidst the chuckles that had broken out among the guests. "Bear in mind you will be punished later. If you can't behave properly when left unattended, then you'll have to put up with the consequences."

Bellatrix felt Rodolphus' eyes on her. She glanced at him quickly: he looked anguished for what she was being put through. Better get it over and done with.

"I'm sorry, Mr Lestrange," she said in a low voice, "We didn't mean any harm."

There was a short pause.

"Don't worry, Bellatrix," Rodolphus' father then replied, trying to pretend what had happened didn't matter, "As long as you realize using wands when you haven't been taught properly is dangerous...you could have gotten hurt."

_As if you care_, Bellatrix said silently.

Rodolphus was sent back to his place. He went reluctantly, looking back at Bellatrix more than once. The guests sat down again and seemed to forget what had just happened. Bellatrix remained standing and pretended to listen to her mother's long speech about good manners, but the conversation between her father and Mr Lestrange was much more interesting.

"...don't know if the reaction will be quite like in Grindelwald's case," Cygnus was saying, looking worried.

"If he did it, it means it can be done," Mr Lestrange replied fiercely, "Nurmengard had to be built, and we already have Azkaban. The Dementors only need a nudge in the right direction."

"It's too early!" Cygnus said desperately, "Think, we are talking about revolutionizing the system. It would mean drastic changes at the Ministry, a number of illegal..."

Mr. Lestrange snorted. "Moving into the open won't be a matter of days," Bellatrix heard, "What he wants right now is to know how many would willingly follow him. I take it he can count on your family's support, Cygnus, though if your current reluctance is anything to go by, you might soon find yourself facing unpleasant consequences. I'm telling you to be careful, my friend."

Cygnus nodded frantically. "He can count on us, he can, tell him he can! Don't think-"

"Do you understand? Bellatrix, are you listening to me?" Druella raised her voice, drowning out her husband's. Bellatrix jumped, then immediately assumed her sorriest expression and nodded. Her mother shooed her toward the empty chair next to Rodolphus again. Bellatrix was quite glad to leave the adult talk behind as she skipped back to where the children were gathered. Maybe it had been a good idea to have the kids sit together, after all.

"Bella!" Rodolphus exclaimed when she sat down, "They let you go?"

"You bet." she replied, pleased with herself, "I thought your dad was going to kill us."

"So did I," Rodolphus laughed, "Here, have some roast potatoes, they're delicious."

As he passed them to her, Bellatrix's eyes sought Sirius. Her cousin was looking resolutely away from her and refused to catch her gaze.

----

"I was being polite."

"No you weren't. You were sucking up to him."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Just go, Bellatrix."

"No, I won't! You're pathetic, one moment telling me you don't like me and then getting upset because I made a friend!"

"Bellatrix. Leave."

"I said no! Look Siri, can't we forget about it? Next year we'll go to Hogwarts together, aren't you pleased?"

Silence.

"All right, I'm going. You're an idiot, Sirius Black."

Bellatrix stamped across the dining room and ran up the large marble staircase to her room, leaving Sirius in front of the fireplace he would use to get home. They didn't bother saying goodbye to each other.

_I don't want you to look past me  
I want you to know who I am  
I hate it when you ignore me  
You just don't understand._

* * *

**Next Chapter:**We fast-forward to the arrival of Bella's letter from Hogwarts. 


	3. Five Hundred Miles

**A/N:** Yep, Deathly Hallows spoilers in this chapter, so if you haven't read book 7, you'd better stop here.

**Disclaimer:** The usual. Lyrics belong to The Seekers this time.

* * *

**Five Hundred Miles**

_If you miss the train I'm on_

_You will know that I am gone_

_You will hear the whistle blow_

_A hundred miles._

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Someone was shaking her by the shoulder, urgently, roughly. Bellatrix stirred, her dark eyes fluttering open.

"It's here, Bella, it's here!" Narcissa and Andromeda were both jumping excitedly up and down on their sister's bed, still in their nighties.

"What's here?" scowled Bellatrix, annoyed at being woken up, even though a quick look at the clock told her it was already ten in the morning.

"The post! The post!" screeched Narcissa, and Andromeda explained, "The owl, Bella, the owl from Hogwarts is here!"

Bellatrix shot up, threw the covers off herself and dashed downstairs, not bothering to put her slippers on. Her mother tutted when she burst into the sitting room, hair uncombed, unruly and wild.

"Is that how young ladies behave?" she frowned disapprovingly.

"My letter," was all Bellatrix could manage.

"On the table."

Bellatrix seized it and tore the envelope into pieces in her frenzy to read what was on the yellow parchment.

-

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Black,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_-_

Andromeda read over her shoulder while Narcissa jumped about, poking Bellatrix in the ribs and demanding to be shown the letter. Suddenly in a very good mood, the dark-haired girl handed her little sister the torn up envelope and the sheet of parchment before rushing back to her room and locking herself in.

Next, she wrote to her cousin Sirius.

-

_Siri,_

_I got the letter this morning! I'm off to Hogwarts on 1 September!!_

_Turns out Dad doesn't even like the Headmaster, he was raving about him the other day...think it'll be a drawback to have a blood-traitor running the school?_

_I certainly hope you got your letter too, else it means you're a Squib and automatically disowned. Plus the train journey would be boring for me without you to laugh at. _

_Tell me when you're going to buy your stuff so I can arrange to go on the same day. Can't wait for the wand._

_Oh, and about the cat-owl-toad thing, which are you going for? It's kind of stupid anyway, because I know Malina Malfoy has a Puffskein with her, and it's not on the list._

_Write back ASAP._

_Bella_

_-_

Sirius' short reply came no more than half an hour later (like his cousin, he lived in London).

-

_Bella,_

_Got the letter too. You're going to have to accept that part of the family fortune is going to me. Unless you bewitch me and marry me off to a mudblood, there's no way I'll ever be disowned._

_As it is I'm going for an owl. Can't stand cats, they're awful, and who would want a toad?_

_Going to Diagon Alley on 23 August. I just picked a random date, it's not like I have anything else to do. Neither Mother nor Father will come, so if Uncle Cygnus or Aunt Druella is with you it would be best._

_Sirius_

_PS: As long as you don't get caught killing mudbloods I don't think having Dumbledore as Headmaster would be any different from having Phineas Nigellus._

_-_

Bellatrix laughed as she read, then crumpled the letter up and threw it over her shoulder. As she turned to look at her reflection in the mirror, she smiled.

Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

On the twenty-third of August, Bellatrix was up and about early. She couldn't blame the elf who was cleaning her room for jumping in surprise when she suddenly sat up in bed, a grin on her face. 

Andromeda and Narcissa were just as amazed when they thundered downstairs for their breakfast and found their older sister sitting at the table, already dressed and with combed, neat hair.

Bellatrix bestowed upong both her sweetest smile when she saw them, and when Narcissa couldn't reach the sugar across the table, she not only stood up to get it, but put a spoonful of it in the blonde's tea, smiling all the while.

Narcissa looked uncertainly from her cup of tea to the sugar in Bellatrix's hand and from that to Bellatrix herself. Andromeda voiced what they were both thinking. "You're being very nice today, Bellatrix."

Narcissa nodded vigorously. Bellatrix looked nonplussed.

"I mean...putting sugar in Cissy's tea...smiling..." the brown-haired sister trailed off.

"Oh, I'm in a good mood." said Bellatrix amiably, "I can't smile at my sisters without them thinking I'm up to something, is that it?"

Andromeda opened her mouth to reply, but her sister had gone already, singing as she skipped back up the stairs.

Three hours later, the Blacks were standing outside Flourish and Blotts, waiting for Sirius. He was, as usual, late.

It wasn't long before Narcissa started to whine and complain, pulling at her mother's hand and demanding to go to Madam Malkin's. Andromeda said nothing, but frequently huffed and glanced in the direction of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Quiet, Narcissa." Mrs Black was saying, then "Bellatrix, I hope you remembered your list."

"Of course I did." Bellatrix said scathingly, "Anyway Sirius will have his with him, so it wouldn't matter if I forgot it."

"Sirius!" Andromeda squealed.

"What about him?"

"There he is!" the ten-year-old pointed down the street, then raised her arms and waved them above her head.

It was Sirius all right, looking just the same as he always did, hands in the pockets of his robes and lazy grin on his face.

"Hey," he greeted his aunt and uncle. "Bella, I hope you've got your list with you, because I forgot mine," he added a moment later.

Bellatrix's grin was replaced by a glare. "Honestly, there's just no counting on you, Siri," she said sharply, fishing the list of items from her pocket and waving it under her cousin's nose. "Here it is, you see."

"Let's get moving, children." Cygnus interrupted, "Druella, you take them to Madam Malkin's for their uniform. I'll go to Flourish and Blotts to get their blasted spellbooks. I hope they won't keep me waiting too long. I'll meet you in front of Ollivander's in half an hour."

"Of course, the uniform had to be black." Sirius observed sadly, standing next to Bellatrix as they waited for Madam Malkin's to take their measurements.

His cousin frowned and shrugged. "Of course, dummy. What were you expecting, shocking pink?"

Madam Malkin bustled over, smiling in a motherly fashion and holding her wand. A tape measure floated behind her.

"The young man first, come on, this way," she ushered Sirius next to a window, where the light was good. "Rhonda, can you see to the little girl?" she called.

A woman in her mid-forties appeared from behind the counter, her frizzy hair tied back. She did not smile, merely brought out her wand, a short, stubby affair, and proceeded to take Bellatrix's measurements.

"Well, aren't you excited?" Madam Malkin twittered happily as she worked. "I can still remember my first day at Hogwarts, oh, I'll never forget it. Best day of my life. And my mother was so pleased when I was Sorted into Hufflepuff, and had the yellow crest of my house sown onto my uniform...right here." She tapped her chest.

Sirius caught Bellatrix's eye and pulled a face. The stout little woman went on talking about the qualities of Hufflepuff and their importance and there was no getting rid of her until ten minutes later when she waved them from her shop, smiling.

"I thought she would never stop talking," said Bellatrix.

"At least Narcissa didn't show us all up."

"True. I think she would quite like shocking pink robes, you know."

The two cousins led Druella, Narcissa and Andromeda to the small, ancient shop that was Ollivander's Wands, both their hearts beginning to beat faster. Bellatrix was finding it hard to believe that she would finally have her own wand, her very own. She thought of the day at Rodolphus' house, when his wand had made the jug explode. She had disliked that oak wand very much, and remembered the weak, feeble impression it had given her. Bellatrix fervently hoped her wand would be nothing like that.

"We'll wait outside, Bellatrix," her mother told her, glancing around for her husband. Bellatrix nodded and pushed the door open, entering the shop, Sirius behind her.

A man with greying hair was standing behind the counter. He beamed at both of them, looking delighted to see them.

"Welcome, welcome..." he murmured, moving toward them, "New Hogwarts students, I presume."

Bellatrix nodded again, but the man didn't seem to notice. He stared at them till she coughed pointedly and enquired sharply, "Mr Ollivander?"

He blinked and nodded.

"Yes, yes...well, who wants to go first?"

Annoyed, Bellatrix motioned for Sirius to choose his wand first. He stepped forward.

"Sirius Black," he introduced himself simply.

Mr Ollivander turned his attention to him and asked "Which is your wand hand?"

"Left."

"Ah...yes..." Ollivander vanished among the shelves and returned a few minutes later carrying various boxes.

"Here, try this one...Phoenix tail feather...ash, eight inches," he suggested, holding out a wand of light brown wood to Sirius, who took it emotionlessly and waved it. He raised an eyebrow when Ollivander snatched it back and thrust a differrent one into his hand.

"Mahogany, dragon heartstring, ten and a quarter inches. Flexible."

This wand didn't pass Ollivander's test either, and once again he took it from Sirius' hand and gave him another.

"Let's try unicorn hair. Cedar, eleven inches."

With an impatient sigh Sirius waved the dark red wand: it emitted a soft, blue glow that vanished after a couple of seconds.

Ollivander clapped his hands together. "There you go!" he cried "Now, young lady, your turn."

Bellatrix got up and walked over to stand beside Sirius, a rather haughty look on her face.

"Bellatrix Black. Right handed," she said carelessly before Ollivander even asked. He nodded and disappeared once more into the shadows at the back of the shop.

Finding the right wand for Bellatrix proved to be a tricky business: after waving countless wands, she still hadn't found one that agreed with her.

When the elm, phoenix feather wand Ollivander had taken a good five minutes to select refused, like its predecessors, to work, Bellatrix threw it down in temper, a dark flush creeping slowly up her neck.

"Is there a wand in your shop, Ollivander, _any_ wand that will work for me?" she growled, teeth clenched. She felt like punching the smiling wandmaker's face: the more wands she discarded the happier he seemed to get.

Now he held out a slender, rigid wand to her, made of dark-colored wood. Bellatrix snatched it from him crossly.

"Walnut and dragon heartstring," he said. "Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Inflexible and unyielding...very much like you, my dear. Excellent for offensive spellwork."

Bellatrix lifted the wand to look at it properly, pleased with the idea of it mirroring her personality. Forcefully, she slashed the air with it and a tongue of flame burst suddenly from the wand's tip, curling and tiwsting before fading away. Bellatrix's mouth fell open. Behind her, Sirius clapped sarcastically.

"Wonderful," Ollivander muttered to himself as he sat behing the counter again, "That'll be twelve Galleons for the cedar wand, Mister Black, and sixteen for the walnut, Miss Black."

Both payed, and a satisfied smile played around Bellatrix's mouth as she thought of how her wand was worth more than Sirius'; surely that meant it was more powerful than her cousin's reddish stick. She told him so once they were out of the tiny shop.

"Hmph," Sirius snorted. "He just didn't like you and raised the price."

Bellatrix was indignant. "Don't talk rubbish. I was quite polite, there was no reason for him to do anything of the kind."

* * *

The first of September dawned dark, misty and wet. As Bellatrix gathered the last of her things, she glanced frequently outside at the pouring rain. The wind had rattled the window and whistled through cracks all night, and now had turned to a gale. The trees in the garden bowed and looked just about ready to snap. 

"Filthy weather, Bella," Andromeda remarked when she came up to her sister's room to give her a warm cloak. "Mum says to pack this, you might feel cold in your uniform. Oh, and she also says you must remember to go and get your House scarf, tie and jumper once you've been Sorted."

Bellatrix nodded absently while thowing books into her trunk. She seemed to have packed just about everything. From a corner of the room came a hoot, and she glanced at her new owl. That day in Diagon Alley, before returning home, Bellatrix insisted her family visit the Magical Managerie. Once there though, she hadn't taken a fancy to any of the cats, and of course, being a Black, had no intention of embarassing herself by going to school with a toad. Druella agreed with her that a toad wasn't the ideal and had looked expectantly at her husband.

Cygnus would have bought his daughter a Runespoor just to get home by dinner time, so convincing him to purchase an owl from the Owl Emporium had been a joke. Belmond wasn't a common barn owl, of course, but an eagle owl. Gales like the one blowing outside right now were easy for him to fly through.

Bellatrix closed her trunk and leaned against it, looking thoughtful. She'd waited so long for this day to come, and now she was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; it was the beginning of a new life. A life with magic in it, magic performed not by her parents, but by herself.

Her mother's voice floated up the stairs.

"Bellatrix! Hurry up, we're going to be late."

"Coming!" Bellatrix yelled back, smoothing the plain black robes she was wearing.

A house elf pattered into the room and used its weak magic to lift the heavy trunk and take it downstairs to where the Blacks stood waiting for their daughter.

Bellatrix grabbed Belmond's cage and skipped after the elf, calling as she went, "How are we going to get to the station?"

"By car," Druella Black replied primly, "Quick, Bellatrix, the train leaves at eleven sharp."

"I'm coming, don't nag."

The car parked outside looked like a common Muggle one- that was necessary, since they were going to join the flow of non-magical vehicles' traffic to get to King's Cross station- but once inside, things looked a bit different. The car, apparently only large enough for five people, could in truth hold ten people or more. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa ran through the rain and jumped in, settling themselves in the back seat. Their parents sat in front.

The driver stored Bellatrix's trunk and her owl in the boot, then climbed into the car and set off down the large drive and through the black iron gates.

The traffic was very slow, even more so than usual because of the rain, but the Blacks' vehicle seemed to have no trouble worming its way along in the small space between one car and another. They made it to King's Cross with quarter of an hour to spare.

When Bellatrix got out, the wind almost blasted her off her feet. She'd foolishly left her hair untied, and it blew over her face, making it difficult to see. Through the rain she made out Andromeda and Narcissa, both in her same plight.

The driver jumped out and tugged Bellatrix's trunk from the boot of the car. Andromeda seized Belmond's cage and together the group of six dashed toward the shelter of the station.

"Good heavens," was all Mrs Black managed to say as she drew her wand and used it to dry her daughters' clothes and hair.

Her husband frowned slightly.

"Not here, Druella. It's packed with Muggles," he said quietly.

Druella's eye twitched; she stowed her wand back up her sleeve and only then seemed to notice that quite a few people were staring at her and her family, no doubt because of the robes and cloaks they were wearing. Belmond, squawking indignantly and flapping his wings to dry himself off, was another thing the Muggles in the station found strange.

Bellatrix pretended she couldn't even see the crowd of non-magical folk and marched through them with her head held high, following her parents and trying desperately hard to avoid contact with the Muggles. She and her sisters gathered behind Cygnus and Druella, who stopped in front of a plain brick wall.

"You first, Bellatrix," ordered her mother.

"First...what?" said Bellatrix, looking confused until a boy and his mother passed right next to her and walked through the wall as if it wasn't there. Then she realized; it was an enchantment to keep Muggles off Platform 9 3/4.

Taking her trunk from the car driver, Bellatrix took a deep breath and stepped through the wall. She suddenly found herself on a very busy platform, in front of a scarlet steam train that belched out smoke from its funnel every now and again. Everywhere she looked she saw wizarding children: they were leaning out of windows to talk to their parents, huddled in small knots, walking up and down the platform or else standing nervously with their parents.

Andromeda appeared behind Bellatrix, laughing delightedly, then Narcissa who clapped her hands together. Druella Black laid a hand on her eldest daughter's shoulder and when Bellatrix looked up she saw her mother was wearing an uncharacteristically dreamy expression.

"Bella!" a voice called. Evan Rosier, now in his third year at Hogwarts, was coming over with his parents. His father and Druella, who were brother and sister, exchanged conspiratorial glances.

"Excited, Bella?" Evan enquired, not waiting for answer before adding "Listen, I can't stay long, I saw Wilkes get on the train a minute ago, I think he's off to get us a compartment...you have no idea how difficult it is to find one not occupied by some silly little first-year...no offence meant."

"No offence taken," Bellatrix said in a dangerously smooth voice. "Don't worry about me, I'm waiting for Rodolphus. He said he wanted me to sit with him."

"Good for you, then." Evan sounded relieved. "I actually think I saw Lestrange board earlier...I'd go check if I were you." That having been said, Evan waved and climbed on the train, immediately followed by a couple of Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff.

Bellatrix glanced at her surroundings again. Andromeda and Narcissa were nowhere to be seen, and the smiling but unfamiliar faces around her only succeeded in making Bellatrix more nervous. Everybody else seemed at ease and at home: she, on the other hand, had never felt more out of place. She had yet to catch sight of Sirius and Rodolphus, and it seemed unlikely she would stumble across them on the crowded platform. Bellatrix decided she would at least try to find them, and set off to look for them, all the while telling herself she was a Black, a pureblood, and there was no need to be nervous because people would queue up to befriend her...

"Oh, I don't know...maybe we shouldn't have packed the extra books," a tiny girl was telling her parents. "Don't send any more by owl, okay?"

"Pass us the Quaffle!" a boy yelled to his friend as an orange ball soared gracefully above Bellatrix's head. She was intrigued by the number of wizards and witches on the platform, and stopped next to two sisters to listen to what they were saying.

"Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!" the red-haired girl said, clutching her sibling's wrist .

"I don't – want – to – go!" the brunette replied, dragging her hand out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a…you think I want to be a – a freak?"

"...I'm not a freak. That's a horrible thing to say."

"That's where you're going! A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy…weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."

Bellatrix was so furious she could barely contain her anger. She turned and flew back to her mother, sparks practically flying from her eyes.

"Mother!" she exploded. "Mudbloods! Mudbloods on the platform! Going to school with me!"

Druella flinched and waved a hand to silence her daughter. "Don't shout, Bella. Who do you mean?"

"That girl with red hair!" Bellatrox pointed down the platform. "Her sister said people who go to Hogwarts are freaks!"

Mrs Black peered in the direction her daughter pointed to, her lip curling. "And just look at the way the parents are dressed..." she murmured quietly, disgusted. "Keep as far away from them as you can, Bellatrix. I can't believe the kind of people they let in..." Druella shook her head and looked at her husband's watch.

"Time to board the train."

Bellatrix still looked enraged by the presence of muggle-borns on the platform, but raised an eyebrow and pointed out "There are still loads of people on the platform."

"Board now if you want to find a compar-"

Narcissa flew out of nowhere and jumped on her sister.

"Bellatrix!" she squealed, "We found Rodolphus! Me and Andi found him!"

The dark-haired girl looked up and saw Andromeda skipping toward them, and walking behind her was Rodolphus, looking as always pleased to see the Blacks. He took both Bellatrix's hands in his and squeezed them gently, smiling.

"Oy! Rod!" A boy suddenly stuck his head out of one of the train windows. "Get a move on, it's five to eleven!"

"Coming!" Rodolphus yelled back, seizing Bellatrix's trunk. "Say goodbye to your parents, Bella. I'll take this to my compartment, alright?"

He winked and strode off, hauling the trunk after him.

There were very few students still on the platform. People inside the train were starting to peer out, and a few hands were already waving.

"Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, Father." said Bellatrix politely to her parents. Narcissa started to cry, and Andromeda stooped to hug her.

"Don't forget to write," she reminded her sister gloomily, knowing very well Bellatrix disliked letters and considered them a waste of time.

"Yeah," Bellatrix promised just for the sake of it, patting Narcissa's head awkwardly. "I'll see you at Christmas. Don't cry, Cissy, I'll tell you all about Hogwarts when I come back."

The train whistled. Sirius leaned out of a window and shouted something.

Andromeda suddenly pushed Bellatrix toward the train. "Go! Hurry up!"

The eldest Black girl dithered, looking uncomfortably at her crying sister.

"BELLATRIX!" Sirius yelled as the train started very slowly to move. Doors were slamming all along the train.

"I was supposed to join Rodolphus in the other carriage!" Bellatrix cried, looking at the window Lestrange's friend had called to him earlier. Sirius made a face and she realized he hadn't heard her.

"Go!" Andromeda screamed, and Bellatrix jumped up to board the moving train, almost tripped on the hem of her robes as she rushed into Sirius' compartment and like everybody else stuck her hand out of the window and waved goodbye. Bellatrix could see Andromeda trying to figure out which hand was hers, then Narcissa yelled thriumphantly and pointed...but it was too late to wave back, the Hogwarts Express had gathered speed and in a moment it turned the corner...they were leaving London behind them.

The journey had begun.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Bellatrix's trip doesn't go as smoothly as she expected. 


	4. Maybe

**Disclaimer:** The usual apply. Lyrics are Kelly Clarkson's.

**

* * *

**

**Maybe**

_I'm strong  
But I break  
I'm stubborn  
And I make plenty of mistakes  
Yeah I'm hard  
And life with me is never easy  
To figure out, to love  
I'm jaded but oh so lovely  
All you have to do is hold me  
_

"Took you awhile." Sirius drawled, sitting down next to a boy with dark, untidy hair.

"I know...but if you'd arrived a bit earlier, maybe we could have bagged a compartment with Rodolphus and the others."

"Why bother? We're fine here." Sirius turned to the boy next to him. "Pleased to meet you, mate. I'm Sirius Black."

"James Potter," the boy introduced himself with a bit of a grin on his face. Bellatrix immediately connected him to the Potters who'd married into the Black family almost a hundred years previously, but Sirius didn't seem to find the name familiar. The other people in the compartment decided the time was right to introduce themselves as well, and there was suddenly a lot of hand-shaking going on.

"Dedalus Diggle, happy to make your aquaintance," a sandy-haired boy grinned.

"Mary Macdonald," a freckled girl with a Scottish accent said good-naturedly.

Everybody looked at Bellatrix, who hadn't spoken yet. There was a moment's silence before she said resignedly, "Bellatrix Black."

"You two brother and sister then?" Dedalus enquired.

"No! Oh, no. She's my cousin," Sirius guffawed. "We both have way too many sibl-" He stopped talking when the door slid open and the red-haired girl Bellatrix had seen on the platform stepped inside.

"I - I'm sorry," She pointed to the empty seat by the window, next to James. "Can I sit there?"

Everyone smiled and laughed and suddenly they were all repeating their names again, Sirius introducing his cousin as well as himself, because Bellatrix didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on around her, and she couldn't, not knowing a filthy Mudblood was right there, in the same compartment...

The door opened yet again and a sallow, greasy-haired boy walked in. He spoke to no-one, but sat down opposite the red-hair, whose name everyone now knew to be Lily.

"Hey, there's already six of us in here," Dedalus protested, finding himself pressed up against Mary Macdonald, who in turn was squashing Bellatrix against the wall. The boy pretended not to hear him and went on talking to Lily.

"...you'd better be in Slytherin," he was saying.

"Slytherin?"

James stared at the greasy-haired boy, then looked at Sirius. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Sirius didn't smile. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey," said James. "And I thought you seemed all right!"

Bellatrix stood up. The company she was in suffocated her. A mudblood, a blood-traitor (for whoever disliked Slytherin could be nothing more than that), and a boy with an idiotic name like Dedalus Diggle. She felt ready to faint as she slid the door open and walked right into Rodolphus himself, flanked by Avery and Mulciber.

"There you are, Bella!" he exclaimed, "I wondered if you'd actually lost the train."

Bellatrix desperately tried to slide the compartment door shut behind her so Rodolphus wouldn't see in whose company she was, but unluckily he got a glimpse of the filth she'd been fraternizing with and raised an eyebrow.

"Who're those people, Bellatrix?" he asked, an indulgent smile on his face. He evidently found her obvious embarassment amusing.

"No-one..." Bellatrix was muttering, "My cousin...his friend...friends of my cousin..." Abruptly she caught Rodolphus' hand and pulled him along the corridor, away from the compartment. "You've got my owl safe, haven't you?"

"Yes, it's fine," came the reply. As they entered a different compartment, from the one they'd just left behind emerged red-haired Lily and her friend.

"See ya, Snivellus!" someone yelled after them, and there was an explosion of laughter.

* * *

Spending the rest of the journey in a compartment full of second years wasn't exactly Bellatrix's idea of fun. When she'd invisioned her first trip on the Hogwarts Express, she'd pictured herself in the company of fellow first-years, admittedly all of them pure-blood, joking and wondering what was in store for them at school. 

As it was, Bellatrix was stuck with Fabian Prewett, Nathaniel Avery, Ajax Mulciber, Malina Malfoy and Rodolphus, all of whom were laughing about one of their teachers. It was all she could do to refrain from sighing. In a way, it had been very kind of Rodolphus to look after her, and there was no denying that he had made friends with pretty much all the right people, even those older than himself, like Lucius Malfoy: it was convenient for Bellatrix to be seen in his company. But she longed for first-years as puzzled and bewildered as she was, exchanging theories about what Hogwarts was like.

Mid-afternoon, a lady with a trolley loaded with sweets slid the compartment door open and asked if anybody wanted something to eat. Bellatrix had an extremely sweet tooth, and no matter how much she ate she always stayed thin as a pin, so she saw no reason not to buy as much junk as she wanted. Avery's eyes widened when he saw the sheer amount of sweets Bellatrix bought, and even Mulciber, who ate like a horse, looked impressed.

Half an hour later, while she was taking a nap, resting her head on the window, someone knocked politely and entered the compartment.

"Hey, guys. I was wondering if I could borrow Bellatrix Black."

At the sound of her name Bellatrix sat up and stifled a yawn before squinting at the person.

"Gentian! Gentian Parkinson!" she said, recognizing him.

He nodded and grinned.

"Hey. Me, Travers and a couple of first years are in a compartment at the end of the train. My twin Hyacinth is here too, she'd like to meet you. Fancy coming over?" He looked at Rodolphus apologetically. "I hope you don't mind."

That irritated Bellatrix. It wasn't like she was Rodolphus' property, he was just looking out for her. People had gotten the wrong idea.

"I'm coming." She stood up and made as if to grab Belmond's cage. Rodolphus raised a hand. "Don't bother, Bella. Your trunk and owl will be taken to your dormitory later, you can leave them here."

Bellatrix opened her mouth to ask how they- whoever 'they' was- would know what belonged to who, but closed it again. It would simply make her sound silly. Grabbing the small bag containing her set of school robes, she followed Gentian out of the compartment and down the corridor.

"I'm glad you remembered my name," the boy said. "'Course it's difficult to forget such an awful one, eh?"

"Hmm." Bellatrix wasn't really listening, because they were passing the compartment Sirius was in and she wanted to know what he was doing. She purposely slowed down and pricked up her ears.

"Tell you what, we'll have a midnight party in the common room tonight," James' voice said.

"I'll bring the refreshments," laughed Sirius. "I have a bottle of truly awful pumpkin syrup my mother gave me. I think she hoped I'd die of poisoning."

Their voices faded as the two in the corridor moved on, but Bellatrix's scowl stayed in place. Sirius was making idiotic plans that he had no chance of carrying out, seeing as he was as good as a Slytherin already, and that James Potter wanted to be in Gryffindor. They would never be in the same common room.

Gentian slowed and moved to the side of the corridor to allow two older boys to pass him by. Bellatrix didn't even glance at them, but one seemed to recognize the two first-years.

"Bellatrix Black and Gentian Parkinson," the boy drawled, "Welcome aboard the Hogwarts Express." A prefect's badge was pinned to the school robes of Lucius Malfoy, and he was smirking in what he obviously thought was an almost friendly fashion.

"Thanks, Lucius," said Gentian, nodding respectfully. Bellatrix wasn't feeling any inclination to be nice, so she merely shrugged. Lucius' icy eyes swept over her and his smirk became a cold smile that looked rather menacing, but she didn't particularly care. Tossing her head she stalked past him and his fellow fifth year, and Gentian followed her with a bit of a grin on his face.

In the compartment there were four other first years: a girl with black hair, who resembled Gentian very much and was certainly his twin Hyacinth; the tall boy Bellatrix had met at the Lestranges' Christmas Ball, called Damian Travers; a much shorter boy than Travers with bright green eyes who introduced himself as Kevin Brocklehurst, and lastly Queenie Greengrass, a girl with a plain but rather interesting face. She greeted Bellatrix before anyone else did, a very small smile playing upon her lips.

"Oh, you found her, Gentian!" Hyacinth spoke up enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. "I'm so pleased to meet you, Bellatrix. I'm Hyacinth, Gentian's twin."

Travers began to hum _Tiptoe through the Tulips_.

"Not funny," Hyacinth rolled her eyes as Kevin Brocklehurst burst out laughing. "I'm sick of all the flower jokes."

"It's getting a bit dark, isn't it," Queenie observed, looking out the window with an indifferent expression. "And isn't that a fire over there, where those houses are?"

Either she was trying to change the subject to avoid an argument or she simply wasn't interested in silly jokes about the twins' names, Bellatrix couldn't tell.

"Dark?" Brocklehurst repeated. "Understatement of the century. I can't even see my hand when I wave it in front of my face. Aren't there any lights on this train?" He looked at the distant fire with evident boredom.

"I hadn't noticed," said Gentian, squinting at Kevin. "But it is rather dark. I expect they'll turn the lights on soon though. Hey, are the actual houses on fire?"

"I think so," Queenie replied, keeping her eyes on the flames until the train entered a tunnel.

They waited, but half an hour later they were still sitting in the dark. Bellatrix stood up and, sliding open the door, peered at the corridor outside. The whole train was black, no lights to be seen.

"What a crap journey," she commented, returning to her seat.

"How are we supposed to change into our robes when we can't see what we're doing?" complained Hyacinth's voice from somewhere near the window. "All right. Gentian, get out of the way, I'm getting my trunk down."

"Hyacinth, don't-" began an alarmed Gentian, breaking off with a yelp when something collided with the side of his head. Hyacinth giggled, and that set Travers and Brocklehurst off. Bellatrix had to admit, the situation was so pathetic it was funny. She joined in the laughter, Queenie did the same and there they all sat, roaring with mirth.

"Seriously," Brocklehurst gasped a minute later from somewhere to Bellatrix's left, "You guys know how we're going to be Sorted? I mean, do we have to answer questions or something?"

"You pure-blood, Brocklehurst?" came Travers' deep voice.

"Half-blood."

Travers grunted.

"I don't know...I've never asked how students are Sorted." Hyacinth remarked, "Queenie, Bella? Do either of you know how it's done?"

Bellatix was glad it was dark, so no-one could see her mouth hanging open. It had never, ever occurred to her to ask her parents how she was going to be Sorted, so certain she'd been of landing in Slytherin.

"I dunno," she answered. Queenie said the same.

"I don't believe it. A bunch of pure-bloods and we don't know how we're going to be Sorted," Travers complained gruffly.

"As long as I get into Slytherin, it doesn't matter to me," Bellatrix said firmly.

"I'm actually hoping to become a Gryffindor," someone said.

Travers sat up straight and peered in Brocklehurst's direction. "Kevin, that was you talking, wasn't it?"

"Yes," came the reply.

"I'm sitting in a compartment with a boy who wants to be in Gryffindor," Travers said slowly, sounding disgusted. "You can't be serious, Brocklehurst."

Bellatrix nodded, even though nobody could see her.

"Well, my family spews out Slytherins and Gryffindors, you see," Brocklehurst explained. "My parents were Slytherins. Time for a change, right?"

"Most Parkinsons are Slytherins," said Gentian. "Where do you think we're going to end up, Cynthia?"

His twin snorted audibly. "Slytherin, of course. What a thing to wonder. And you, Bellatrix?" she asked.

"Being a Black, I don't have much choice," Bellatrix smirked. Everyone chuckled appreciatevely.

"My mother was a Ravenclaw," Queenie said. "I don't particularly mind where I'm put...don't care for Hufflepuff though."

"Hufflepuff. The cowards's House," Travers said contemptuously. "I'd leave straight away if they put me in there."

There was a murmur of assent- nobody in the compartment wanted to be in Hufflepuff.

Bellatrix thought it was the right time to tell about the people she'd met in Sirius's compartment. It would be a good chance to show everyone she believed strongly in purebloods' superiority, and hated blood traitors and mudbloods.

"This boy called James Potter wants to be in Gryffindor," she recounted, her tone spiteful. "He laughed at someone else who wanted to be put in Slytherin. I've never heard about any of the families of the kids in that compartment, either. MacDonald. Diggle. What's worse, this girl walked in after a bit, I'd seen her on the platform earlier." She took a deep breath. "With her sister...and Muggle parents."

Queenie gasped, Hyacinth sniffed and Travers made a disparaging noise.

Bellatrix's voice shook with suppressed fury as she went on. "And you know what her sister said to her? She said..." Here she paused for a dramatic effect. "...she said we're all freaks, and we go to Hogwarts because normal people must be kept safe from us."

Damian Travers jumped up and banged his head against the luggage rack. Queenie and Hyacinth both hissed like angry cats; had the lights been on Brocklehurst's lip would have been seen curling. Only Gentian stayed silent.

"It's unbelievable, the scum they let in," growled Travers as he sat down again, rubbing his head. Bellatrix started to say something, but was prevented by Hyacinth squealing in surprise as the compartment door slid open.

Lucius Malfoy's blonde hair was visible even in the pitch dark; he leaned against the doorframe and advised them all to change into their school robes, for they had almost reached Hogsmeade.

"What's up with the lights, Malfoy?" Travers cut across him.

Lucius didn't sound very happy with the tone he was being addressed in.

"The lights aren't working, obviously. And in case you hadn't noticed, Travers...it is Travers, isn't it?...I'm a prefect. If you don't want detention on your first day, use your manners when talking to me."

Bellatrix intervened swiftly. "Don't be a pain, Lucius. You know Travers, politeness just doesn't go with the territory. You don't really want to put a fellow Slytherin in detention, or dock points from your own House, do you?"

"Ah, sweet Bellatrix." Lucius said with a slight sneer. "Who says Travers is going to be in Slytherin? And who says _you_'re going to be?"

Bellatrix drew herself up. "You know fine I'm a Black. There's not much more to say, Lucius, is there?"

"Not really," agreed Lucius. "Except that when I passed your cousin's compartment he seemed to be finding the idea of being a Gryffindor very appealing." Before the girl could reply, he shut the door and left.

"What did he mean by that?!" exclaimed an angry Bellatrix, staring at the spot where Lucius had stood.

Queenie stepped forward to calm her, but ended up walking right into her instead.

"Ooops, sorry...can't see anything." she apologised. "He just said that to upset you, Bella. Forget it."

Bellatrix thought hard as she slowly pulled her robes over her head. A sense of unease settled on her: unlike the rest of the group, she was not convinced Lucius had lied about her cousin's House preference.

* * *

The train corridor was packed: because of the dark nobody could see what was going on around them, and as a consequence people were pushing, shoving and bumping into everybody else. 

"How am I supposed to carry my trunk through that?" Hyacinth asked shrilly, eyeing the rowdy crowd with distaste.

"Leave your stuff here. It'll be taken to your room later." Bellatrix told her, raising her voice to be heard above the din outside the compartment.

"But how will they know which room is mine?" Hyacinth demanded to know. She received no answer, for Bellatrix was talking to Travers about the best way to survive in the corridor.

"Come on, let's stick together," said Gentian grimly. He bravely stepped out of the compartment and joined the flow of shouting students. He held out a hand for Hyacinth, but she wasn't quick enough to take it: two Gryffindor seventh years pressed Gentian forward and he vanished in the crowd of black-robed people.

Bellatrix seized tall Travers by the elbow.

"I'm right behind you," she said, and they both joined the throng of fellow students.

Travers led the way, Bellatrix hung on for dear life. Someone almost tripped her up and she kicked viciously at random, her foot connecting with somebody's leg.

"Watch it, Cadwallader!" a girl yelled. "That was my shin, idiot!"

At last the unfortunate little group of first years caught sight of the train door. One last shove, and Travers jumped down on to the platform, pulling Bellatrix with him. It was as dark outside as it had been on the train, and rain was falling thick and fast. A few people were holding books over their heads, but Bellatrix had nothing to shelter beneath.

Hyacinth and Queenie soon joined them; they'd lost Brocklehurst on the way out, and Gentian was nowhere to be seen either.

"Firs' years this way!" an enourmous man with a lantern called. "Firs' years here!"

"Why?" Hyacinth looked puzzled. "Who is he?"

"You're going by boat," a grinning Ravenclaw said as she passed next to Queenie. "I feel pretty sorry for you."

"Watch out for the Giant Squid, firsties!" a raucous voice yelled. Queenie started to turn green.

First years began to timidly approach the large man, many holding their hands above their heads in an attempt to stay dry. Sirius came into view when a squat Slytherin girl moved away with the older students. He was still talking to the Potter boy, Bellatrix saw. She crossed her arms and frowned at him, but he didn't see her- or pretended not to.

"All o' you firs'-years? Are there any more? Right, follow me...careful, now!"

The large man led them down a steep path. Bellatrix could hardly see where she was putting her feet. A girl at the front of the group lost her footing and almost went rolling down the slope. Before that could happen the large man seized the back of her robes and pulled her upright.

"I said, watch yer step!"

Hyacinth was grumbling, shoulder-length black hair sopping wet. The journey had been much more eventful than anyone could have imagined, what with the train lights, the fighting in the dark corridor, the rain. Bellatrix was feeling pretty fed up, but what she saw made her forget her woes.

"There's Hogwarts," the giant said proudly as the first-years gathered round him and stared across the black lake at the castle. It was perched on a mountain, with towers and turrets and hundreds of windows blazing with light. It looked pretty impressive, Bellatrix had to admit. She stopped minding the rain; her stomach contracted with excitement as she thought of the Sorting, the food, then the warm bed that was waiting for her.

"Now, four to a boat!" the large man was instructing them, and Bellatrix led her group to an empty boat. Travers wasn't looking very pleased with the all-female company, but didn't complain as he climbed in the boat and sat next to Queenie.

Hyacinth took a seat next to Bellatrix and fingered her wet hair. It looked like she was getting ready to whine about something, when somebody spoke to them.

"Hey, guys." Gentian waved from the boat on their right. He and Brocklehurst were sitting side by side, laughing at their surprise.

"Where were you?" cried Hyacinth, jumping to her feet and almost falling into the water. Two boys climbed in the boat with her twin and Brocklehurst, looking nervous. Gentian turned to talk to them: he had to shout to make himself heard over the howling of the wind.

At last, the small fleet started to move across the lake. The boats rocked so much Bellatrix wondered if they were going to capsize. Rain stung her cheeks and droplets of water ran down her neck. Travers had hunched up, his back to the castle. Hyacinth was trying to use him as a shield from the wind.

Bellatrix simply had to laugh.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Bellatrix and Sirius are Sorted, presumably both end up in Slytherin...or not. 


	5. What Have you Done

**A/N:** Many thanks to x-Scarlett-x and ChristineThePirateQueen for reviewing!

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter isn't mine. sob Lyrics---> Within Temptation

* * *

**What Have You Done**

_Would you mind if I hurt you?_

_Understand that I need to._

_Wish that I had other choices_

_Than to hurt the one I love._

_What have you done now?_

The group of first-years Professor McGonagall saw trooping into the Entrance Hall was pathetically bedraggled, cold and miserable. She almost felt sorry for them as she watched them trying to squeeze the water from their robes and hair.

"Pay attention, please." Professor McGonagall called, and proceeded to make a short speech about the four Hogwarts Houses and the school points system.

"As many of you already know, there are four Hogwarts Houses, and their names derive from those of the founders. You might be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Your House is essentially your family during your time here; at the end of the year, one of the four, the House with most points, will win the House Cup. Points can be gained by setting a good example, answering questions correctly, and working hard in class. They can also be lost, and that is why it is in your best interests to behave. Now follow me, please."

She led them into the Great Hall. Every single first year's jaw dropped when they saw the size of the room they were in, the four long tables, and the ceiling that looked like the sky outside- black clouds were swirling angrily, and lightening flashed occasionally.

Bellatrix's stomach was sumersaulting, but many were worse off: Queenie looked ready to be sick, the forehead of a boy next to them was beaded with sweat and Hyacinth was looking skywards, hands clasped, as if she was praying.

A hand touched Bellatrix's softly; she looked up into Sirius' cheerful face. He looked relaxed and at ease, as if being sorted was something he did every day. With her cousin next to her, Bellatrix felt a bit better.

The first years all lined up, their backs to the staff table, and Professor McGonagall placed a dirty old hat on the stool in front of them. Bellatrix stared at it with poorly-disguised disgust. The old thing looked like it hadn't been washed for years.

Suddenly the hat began to sing- actually sing- causing many first years standing in line to jump. Bellatrix wasn't among them, though the last thing she'd been expecting was having to listen to a singing hat.

"Pay attention to the words," Sirius whispered to her. Bellatrix concentrated on the song, and was surprised to discover it spoke of the four Houses, of how Gryffindor preferred the valiant and the brave, while gentle Hufflepuff loved the honest and trustworthy. Then the hat told of Ravenclaw's interest in wise and smart students, and lastly mentioned the importance Slytherin placed on ambition.

"Do you think I'm ambitious?" Bellatrix hissed to her cousin. She couldn't ever remember being particularly ambitious; what would she tell her parents if she didn't get into Slytherin?

The hat finished its song and the students in the Hall applauded. Bellatrix could see Rodolphus sitting at the Slytherin table, watching the proceedings with intense interest.

"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall explained curtly, "You will sit on the stool and put the Hat on your head." Unrolling a scroll, she called "Aubrey, Bertram!"

A boy stumbled forward and nervously put the hat on.

"RAVENCLAW!" the Hat announced. Students seated at the Ravenclaw table clapped, and many stood up to shake Bertram's hand when he joined them, looking shaken.

"Abercrombie, David!"

The hat considered the boy, then made its decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Cheer came from the Gryffindor table.

"Belby, Damocles!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Knowing she was probably next, Bellatrix tried hard not to panic. She was a Black, which meant she was certainly going to be a Slytherin: showing how nervous she really was would cause other people to mark her as a weak little fool, which she was most certainly not.

A Black. A Slytherin. There was nothing to worry about.

"Black, Bellatrix!" called Professor McGonagall.

"See you at the table," Bellatrix whispered to Sirius, walking uncertainly towards the stool. She sat down, put the hat on and waited.

"A Black!" a little voice spoke in her ear, "A long time since I sorted one. I seem to remember the last was Walburga Black. Your aunt -"

_Am I ambitious enough to be a Slytherin?_ Bellatrix interrupted the Hat's ramble. _I never thought of myself as ambitious._

"But you are, my dear," the Hat replied, "And Slytherin is much more than simple ambition, you know. Pure-blood, determined, proud...rather self-centered...SLYTHERIN!"

It shrieked the last word for everybody to hear, and the table at the far left exploded with cheers for the first new Slytherin, who was a Black to boot. Quite a few Slytherins knew Bellatrix personally, which meant the cheers and claps went on for much longer than usual.

Malina Malfoy smiled at Bellatrix as she sat down, as did many more students along the table. Though she was still feeling nervous, Bellatrix couldn't help being pleased at all the attention.

"Black, Sirius!" said Professor McGonagall.

"That's my cousin," Bellatrix said proudly, watching Sirius put on the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it screamed.

Bellatrix blinked, her mouth falling open. Surely she'd misheard. Her cousin, Sirius, Sirius _Black_, whom she'd been looking forward to sharing her school years with, was now a _Gryffindor_?

She stood up slowly, ignoring a boy who asked if Sirius was really Bellatrix's cousin, and waited for Sirius to turn, to wave, to give some sort of explanation. He did none of these things, merely headed toward the Gryffindor table, giving that annoying James Potter thumbs-up as he went.

Going red, Bellatrix sat down again, feeling very betrayed. Lucius hadn't lied, her cousin really had been planning to get into Gryffindor.

How dare Sirius...it was disgraceful, she thought, as she watched Bones, Edgar join the Hufflepuffs. Already people were muttering about him, a Gryffindor Black. And he didn't look at all sorry!

The Sorting continued: Kevin Brocklehurst made neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin, but joined the Ravenclaws. That ridiculous Dedalus Diggle went to Hufflepuff, then Evans Lily was called. Bellatrix sat up.

"That's the Mudblood who thinks we're all freaks!" she exclaimed loud enough for quite a few Slytherins to hear. Many scowled up at the girl who was putting the hat on. It had hardly touched her head before it screeched "GRYFFINDOR!"

There was an outbreak of claps from the Gryffindors, and many Slytherins hissed.

"Fancy it being made a Gryffindor!" Bellatrix said in mock surprise, exchanging a nasty grin with new Slytherin, Morag Fawcett. While the Hat took its time with Demetrius Flint, she watched Lily Evans sit next to Sirius, then actually turn her back pointedly on him. Bellatrix was boiling with rage. A Mudblood scorning her cousin like that...and her cousin, looking nonchalant when a filthy Muggle was less than five inches from him!

Bellatrix was suddenly aware of Queenie Greengrass beside to her, looking very pleased with herself. Though she wasn't in the mood to be nice, Bellatrix couldn't very well ignore Queenie; being friends with her would be an advantage, since she was from a decent family.

"You made it," she said, smiling wanly at Queenie as Remus Lupin and Mary Macdonald were both sorted into Gryffindor.

"Yes," Queenie preened. "I was sort of afraid I was going to end up like your poor cousin..." She lowered her voice. "Why do you think the Hat put him in Gryffindor?"

Bellatrix was spared from answering, because McGonagall called for "Parkinson, Gentian!", and both she and Queenie wanted to watch his Sorting.

Gentian looked shy and ill at ease when he slipped the Hat on. There was silence as everyone awaited the verdict, that seemed to take a rather unusual amount of time to be delivered. Almost a full minute later, there was a scream of "RAVENCLAW!" and pureblood Gentian, instead of joining the Slytherins as many thought he would, went to sit next to his friend, Kevin Brocklehurst. Bellatrix watched Hyacinth carefully, curious as to what her reaction was going to be: the girl's face was contorted with anger, her eyes fixed on her twin, who was looking everywhere but in her direction.

When Hyacinth was called she strode to the Sorting Hat and made it to Slytherin in no more than ten seconds. She sat next to one of the new Slytherin boys, Michael Higgs, looking distinctly annoyed.

Peter Pettigrew and James Potter became Gryffindors, the latter not to Bellatrix's surprise, and she was forced to watch them sit opposite her cousin. They said something to each other and laughed.

Only a few students remained. Fiona Smith went to Hufflepuff, as did Trevor Davies. Severus Snape became a Slytherin, and when he sat down Bellatrix couldn't help asking "Missing your Mudblood friend?"

Obviously worried his fellows would learn he'd befriended a Muggle-born, Snape wisely chose not to retort. Satisfied, Bellatrix returned her attention to the Sorting. Damian Travers had just become a Slytherin, and the hat was busy with Andrew Urquhart. After sending him off to join the Hufflepuff table, Ira Vaisey was made a Slytherin and Pepper Zeller a Ravenclaw.

A sigh of relief went round the Great Hall as the famished students prepared to sink their teeth into their dinner. The tall, bearded man Bellatrix presumed was Albus Dumbledore stood and smiled.

"Welcome!" he said warmly. "I apologise to our new students for the rain they had to cope with during their boat journey- but hope, however, that our delicious feast will speedily remove all recollections of the uncomfortable half hour they spent crossing the lake."

Dumbledore sat down again (Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at the shortness of his speech), and food appeared on every table. There was a murmur of appreciation, then everybody reached for their favourite dish and began to eat in earnest.

"Wonder why Sirius Black was put in Gryffindor." Michael Higgs wondered aloud, piling his plate with roast potatoes. "I mean, he's part of one of the best families...Bellatrix, weren't you expecting him to be in Slytherin?"

"Oh, I was." Bellatrix replied grimly. "Just wait till the family hears about this."

"What about my brother?" Hyacinth cut in sulkily. "I don't know what possessed the idiot, letting that Hat put him in Ravenclaw. So Ravenclaw is better than, say, Hufflepuff, but it's still pretty embarassing considering he had the opportunity to be a Slytherin."

Everybody nodded absently. Morag Fawcett looked up from her plate of bacon and eggs, and questioned "Any of you girls have a cat? I brought mine with me, but he's really nasty to other cats...so if you have one..." Bellatrix, Hyacinth, Queenie and little blond Katia Rowle all shook their heads.

"I have an owl." said Bellatrix.

"Same here." added Hyacinth.

"I don't have a pet." Queenie announced.

"And I only brought my toad." finished Katia.

"A toad?" repeated Bellatrix. "You actually brought a toad?"

Katia giggled - she was one of those people with infectious laughter - and drew said toad from her pocket. Queenie screamed.

"Away, away from the table!"

The toad was returned to Katia's pocket just as the main course vanished and various kinds of pudding appeared on the table. Queenie deemed it safe to rest her elbows on the wooden surface again.

"Can any of you do magic yet?" asked Hyacinth.

"Last time I tried to make something float I caused an explosion." Bellatrix snorted.

Travers nodded emphatically. "She did. I was there."

"Was that when you found out you were magic?" enquired Higgs. "I did when my neighbour's Kneazle chased me round the garden. One moment he was about to gouge my eye out, the next he was on the greenhouse roof, yowling."

Travers laughed and waved a hand. "That's nothing. I made my father spill a mug of boiling coffee on his lap because he was telling me off for breaking his stupid radio."

"Once I was in a Muggle street," said Morag. "And one of their cars, you know, slammed right into me. I must have been about six." She smirked. "It was like the car was made of rubber. I bounced off it and fell to the ground. Stupid Muggle driver thought I was dead. Anyway, I was fine, but the Muggle got a jinx in the face from my father."

The little group cheered.

When everyone had finished eating, the food disappeared and Dumbledore got up again.

"Before we all go to bed, I have a few things to say," he announced. "Let us all welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Tisiphone Twyte. She is going to replace Professor Eloin, whom as you all know had a very unfortunate accident involving a backfired spell and a pumpkin."

Hyacinth covered her mouth and giggled.

"First-years must remember that the forest in the grounds is forbidden." Dumbledore continued. "Prefects, please guide our new students to their respective common rooms. Goodnight."

Everyone stood up when Dumbledore finished talking; Lucius Malfoy and a dark-haired girl were herding the first-year Slytherins forwards when the Headmaster's voice rang out again.

"Forgive me for wasting your time." Dumbledore called. "But before leaving, let us all sing the school song!"

Quite a few people laughed. Some sat down again, but most remained standing as they started to sing.

_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald, _

_Or young with scabby knees,"_

Queenie was screaming with laughter next to Bellatrix, who was enjoying the disgusted expression on Lucius Malfoy's face: both he and the girl prefect were silent and tight-lipped.

_"Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,"_

Up at the staff table, Professor McGonagall was looking at the ceiling and pretending she couldn't hear the Headmaster beside her singing as enthusiastically as any of his students.

_"So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot._

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot!"_

There was some more laughter as the crowd dispersed. Bellatrix and the rest of the Slytherin first-years followed their two prefects out of the Hall. Alongside them walked the gaggle of new Gryffindors, among them Sirius. Bellatrix ignored her cousin completely and was glad when the Gryffindors were taken up a marble staircase while she and her group went down a small, gloomy corridor.

"This is the way to the dungeons, where our common room is." she heard Malfoy say. "Try to memorize the route, I'm not going to babysit for you all year round."

After a couple of twists and turns, they all stopped in front of a bare stretch of wall.

"The password this week is _Dark Arts_." Malfoy told the first-years. When he spoke the last word, there was a small rumble aand a hidden door in the wall opened. Bellatrix surveyed the Slytherin common room with a critical look. A misty green light was shining, illuminating the long room. On one side there was a fireplace, around which quite a few Slytherins were sitting.

"Boys, your dormitories are on the right." Lucius pointed at two arches on the other side of the room, through which stairways could be seen.

"Girls, your dormitories are on the left. Your belongings have already been brought down here from the train, you'll find them next to your beds," said the second prefect. Lucius waved them off and walked toward the fireplace and the girl prefect followed.

The first-years stood silently, then Travers shrugged.

"I'm going to bed. See you guys tomorrow," was all he said, and he walked away. The rest of the boys muttered quick goodnights and went after Travers.

"The last thing I expected was to see Damian becoming the leader of the gang." said Bellatrix, climbing the stairs on the left. "As for Malfoy, great prefect he is! He's done nothing but _very _kindly pointing us in the right direction."

The dormitory was a small, square room with no windows. The eerie green light that lit up the common room up shone here too. There were five large four poster beds with green hangings, and next to each was a bedside table.

Bellatrix's trunk was at the foot of the bed furthest from the door. On the four poster opposite sat a large grey cat. Morag jumped on it and started to pet it.

"But where are our owls?" Hyacinth asked, sounding confused.

"There's an Owlery. They're probably there." replied Bellatrix, looking at Belmond's empty cage.

"I'm so sleepy..." murmured Katia, curled up on her bed with her eyes closed, still fully-dressed. The girls all changed into their nightclothes, except for Katia who'd fallen asleep, and climbed into bed. Bellatrix tugged the green hangings of her four poster shut and lay down. She wondered what Sirius was doing; with a jolt of anger, Bellatrix realized he was probably having that midnight feast with the Potter boy and the rest of his little friends, like he'd said on the train.

Furiously, she rolled over and closed her eyes, attempting to banish all thought of her cousin from her mind.

_I know I'd better stop trying  
You know that there's no denying  
I won't show mercy on you now  
I know I should stop believing  
I know that there's no retrieving  
It's over now  
What have you done?_

* * *

The next morning Bellatrix woke to find that Queenie and Morag had already gone down to breakfast. Katia was still snoring, and Hyacinth was sitting on her bed, reading. She looked up and smiled when Bellatrix pulled back the hangings of her four poster. 

"I thought you were going to sleep forever." Hyacinth said, putting down her book. "It's still quite early, don't worry. I'll wake Katia and we can go down to breakfast together."

Bellatrix nodded mutely and got dressed. She was seriously thinking of writing to Aunt Walburga just to land Sirius in trouble...but she wasn't completely unfair, no. She was going to hear Sirius out before deciding whether to write or not.

Ten minutes later she, Hyacinth and Katia walked into the Great Hall. Katia started to go toward Morag and Queenie, but Bellatrix held her back and led the two girls to where Rodolphus was sitting with Ajax Mulciber, Nathaniel Avery and Fabian Prewett.

"Budge up," Bellatrix told them, squeezing in between Avery and Rodolphus.

"Good morning," Rodolphus greeted her, looking up from the Daily Prophet he was reading. "Have you heard the news, Bella?"

"News? What news?" A thought struck Bellatrix, making her sit up hopefully. "Sirius has been moved to Slytherin?"

Mulciber and Avery roared with laughter, much to Bella's indignation.

Rodolphus was shaking his head. "No, I think you're going to have to accept the fact that your cousin is and will always be a Gryffindor," he said, looking sympathetic. "I was talking about _this_ news."

Bellatrix took the newspaper that was passed to her and the headlines caught her eye.

"CHAOS IN LANARKSHIRE VILLAGE" they read. Underneath was a picture that showed what remained of some houses: smoke was rising from the ruins, and it was obvious fire had destroyed the buildings.

_"The Ministry is still refusing to release any official statement regarding the strange incident that struck the village of Dothsham in the early hours of yesterday evening._

_The homes of the Appleby family and of their Muggle neighbours went up in flames at around five in the afternoon, according to Muggle witnesses who as we speak are being interrogated by members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad._

_"I was lookin' for the cat," Mrs. Dopp, age 65, told our reporter. "It's scared of storms, you see. It had been rainin' all day, and that was fine, but I could see a thunderstorm comin' up all of a sudden, so I went outside to find the cat and I saw the Applebys's house burnin' like a straw doll on the fifth o' November. It was terrible to watch, and the fire was bright blue...like it was from the Devil hisself."_

_It was at first unclear what caused the fire to start, but another Muggle witness was able to shed some light on the obscure happenings. Mr. Roberts, age 36, who lives in the same street as the Appleby family, says he was coming back from work when "a gang of hooligans ran out in the road, right in front of my car, and almost got themselves killed. I braked and luckily no-one was hurt, but I'll be having a word with the police about this. Dressed like they belonged to that weirdo cult, what's it called, the Ku Klux Klan, but all in black, not white. Never seen anything like it. When I got out of the car to yell at them they ran, and a second later they were gone. I blinked and they seemed to vanish. So what is it now, we have a group of madmen running about, targeting white families? That's what you get for having that idiot as Prime Minister..."_

_What Mr. Roberts does not realize is that his encounter was not with a racist group of teenagers, but most probably with the very same wizards, still unidentified, that cursed the Appleby house and caused a fire that took several hours for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to extinguish, but which fortunately claimed no lives._

_Although the Ministry feebly attempted to blame the fire on carelessness on the part of the Applebys, suggesting they left a wand lying around which their youngest child, 4 years old, could have found and played with, one of the Ministry employees on the scene commented "I'll be damned if the kid started the fire. Took four hours to get under control, we worked and worked at it and it just kept spreading. Burned down both the neighbours' houses, too. You can still see traces of Dark magic, no way a four-year-old did that."_

_The smoke from the fire could be seen for miles, rising straight up toward the sky; some fears were expressed for the students aboard the Hogwarts Express, which passed close to Dothsham when the situation was still critical, but the train lights were not on, either due to malfunctioning or perhaps because the driver was warned about the trouble in Dothsham, and the Express passed undetected._

_Whether this latest display of violence can be linked to previous attacks on wizarding and Muggle homes alike, still remains to be seen. Certainly it is not the first time that masked individuals have been sighted on or near the scene of - "_

Bellatrix had read enough. She tossed the newspaper back to Rodolphus.

"So a couple of idiots thought it would be fun to burn a house down," she said with indifference, not taking any account of the two houses belonging to Muggles. "What about it?"

"So we saw the fire, remember?" suddenly said Hyacinth, who'd read the article over Bellatrix's shoulder. "From the train, we passed really close to it!"

"That's not the point," Mulciber said dully.

"You don't usually read the papers, do you," Rodolphus remarked, smirking a little. "The Applebys work at the Ministry, Bellatrix. Right now they're campaigning to have Squibs integrated properly in our society." He pointed to a miserable-looking girl sitting at the Hufflepuff table. "And there's the Applebys' daughter, Megan."

"She doesn't look happy," Bellatrix observed. "But what does this Squib campaign have to do with anything?"

Mulciber snorted and Avery said loftily, "Girls..."

Bellatrix shot him a glare. "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," she spat at him, then rounded on the boy next to her. "Speak plainly or not at all, Rodolphus!"

Rodolphus looked ready to laugh, but knew better than to push it too far. He raised a hand, gesturing for her to calm down and let him speak.

"This isn't the first time those masked people have caused trouble," he said. "Nobody knows who they are, or who they're going to target next, but one thing's for sure, they don't like Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers."

Katia sounded troubled when she spoke. "I don't get it...so they're going to burn down every Muggle house in Great Britain or something?" she said. "What do they want?"

"That's the question." Mulciber leered. "Who knows?"

Bellatrix looked down at her unfinished bowl of cereal and played with her spoon.

"We'd better be off," said Hyacinth. "We've got Transfiguration in twenty minutes."

"Good luck with the old bat, McGonagall," sniggered Avery.

Hyacinth ignored him and stood up very slowly, staring past Bellatrix; her face started to go red.

"Wha-?" Bellatrix sounded confused, then twisted round to discover what her friend was looking at. Immediately she realized what had upset Hyacinth; her twin Gentian was leaving the Great Hall with a group of Ravenclaws, looking happy as anything.

Before Katia and Bellatrix could stop her, Hyacinth swept toward her twin and swooped down on him like a hawk on a mouse.

Avery whistled. Bellatrix, turning to face him to shut him up, caught sight of Rodolphus' expression: he was watching Hyacinth confront her twin, his eyes alive with spiteful pleasure. When he saw Bellatrix looking at him he tried to hide it, but it was too late. Looking disgusted, Bellatrix seized Katia's arm and dragged her toward the Entrance Hall, where the Ravenclaw first-years were standing, looking scandalized by Hyacinth's behaviour.

"...and you don't look the slightest bit sorry!" the Slytherin was screaming while Gentian cowered.

"Hyacinth...please..." he kept muttering, shooting terrified glances first at his House fellows, then at his twin.

"No please!" Hyacinth yelled, seizing the front of his robes and shaking him, "I know you would have been Sorted into Slytherin had you wanted it! You purposely shamed us, you traitor!"

Bellatrix and Brocklehurst intervened at the same time; the Ravenclaw stepped between the twins while the Slytherin pulled her friend back. Hyacinth was quite hysterical by then, and was attracting a lot of attention.

"Shut up!" Bellatrix hissed furiously. "Do you want to lose us House points on your first day?" Hyacinth didn't seem to be listening: she went on shrieking insults at Gentian, who was being taken away by his friends and looked dejected and miserable. Katia gave him a sarcastic little wave.

"Hyacinth!" Bellatrix said venomously, her eyes wide and glaring. "Shut up!"

The raven-haired girl stopped yelling, her chest rising and falling as she took deep gulps of air. Her lip trembled, and she suddenly broke free of Bellatrix's vice-like grip and ran in the direction of the dungeons.

"_What _is going on here?" a male voice snapped. Bellatrix and Katia whirled round and were confronted with the angry face of Travers.

"Hyacinth was solving a little family problem." Katia explained in a sugary sweet voice that very clearly told Travers to mind his own business. "A _private _family problem."

A vein was pulsing in Travers' high forehead. "It bloody well didn't sound private!" he said between clenched teeth. "The whole school must have heard you. Just make sure not to give all us new Slytherins a bad name."

"Who died and made you king?" said Bellatrix rudely, turning and storming away. "Come on, Katia!" she called without looking back. If Travers thought there had been enough yelling for one day, he was wrong.

* * *

_I, I've been waiting for someone like you  
But now you are slipping away  
What have you done now?  
Why? Why does Fate make us suffer?  
There's a curse between us  
Between me and you._

Bellatrix cornered Sirius after Herbology. Gryffindors and Slytherins took Herbology together, and he had been pretty clever, avoiding his cousin for the whole lesson, even succeeding in evading her when the students divided into groups of four to plant seedlings of Whistling Weed.

When the lesson ended and everyone started to head back to the castle, Bellatrix dropped her bag, instructing Katia to carry it back to the dormitory for her, and sprinted after Sirius. Determined not to have him escape, she grabbed his arm and hung on.

"I want a word," she hissed in his ear. James Potter's lip was curling, she noticed. Perhaps Sirius saw it too, and also saw the challenging look forming on Bellatrix's face, because he hastily pulled her away to avoid a fight, and walked with her until they reached the tree everybody called Whomping Willow; for obvious reasons, they stayed out of range of its branches.

"I know what you want to say, Bella, and I'm not interested." Sirius told his cousin, as she let go of him, lips pressed together.

"How can you, Sirius?" she suddenly burst out. "How dare you shame us like this! Have you any idea what the Slytherins in my year are saying about you? About _us_?"

"I have a pretty fair idea, actually." His eyes, so similar to hers, looked suddenly hopeful. He was wishing for Bellatrix to say that it didn't matter what House he was in, he was still her cousin no matter what. But she couldn't do that.

"I want you to go to the Headmaster, Sirius," she said commandingly. "Tell him you want to try the Hat on again. Tell him it must have been wrong."

Sirius's hopeful expression faded, replaced by a cold, stony glare.

"Don't order me about, Bellatrix. I get enough of that at home," was all he said before turning and starting to stride away. Bellatrix hesitated, then followed him quickly and seized his arm again. He shook her off impatiently.

"No...wait- _listen_, Siri!" Bellatrix begged. Her pleading worked: her cousin stopped and turned his head to look at her.

"Look...what I...how..." Bellatrix stammered incoherently, reddening. "You said...oh, Sirius, you said we were going to have a right laugh at Hogwarts! We were going to be in Slytherin together, remember? You said so!" She now sounded accusing.

A small smile appeared on Sirius's face. For a moment he almost regretted having asked the Sorting Hat to place him in Gryffindor, though he'd planned to do so for a long time, just to annoy his mother.

"We can...still be friends," he suggested, as if that was an option for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin.

Bellatrix froze. There was a long, long silence, broken only by the creaking of the Whomping Willow's branches.

"Be friends?" Bellatrix repeated. Of course, Sirius _would _say that. What he really meant was, let's say hello to each other in the corridors and when we pass each other in the Great Hall. Bellatrix didn't know it yet, but at that moment the very first crack appeared on the icy surface of her relationship with Sirius. When the Hat had screamed the word "Gryffindor!", winter had spread over the affection she had for her cousin, and frozen it; how much longer until the ice broke, severing them forever from each other?

"Sirius. You're a Gryffindor," she reminded him frostily. "I wouldn't be seen dead in your company."

Silence again. Sirius for a split-second looked shocked, but anger quickly took over.

"Why are you even here then, Bellatrix?" he snarled. Once more he walked away from her, back to the castle.

"Sirius!" Bellatrix shrieked. "I'm going to tell Mother you're friends with the Mudblood if you don't switch Houses right now!"

Sirius turned and bellowed "Don't call her that!"

A malevolent cackle escaped Bellatrix's mouth. "What?" she yelled. "One day in Gryffindor was enough to turn you soft?"

When she received no answer she screamed again "I'm going to tell the whole family! You're going to be disowned, you filthy blood-traitor!"

Sirius kept walking. Feeling murderous, Bellatrix ran to catch up. He obviously thought she was going to yell some more, but she did much more than that. She raised a hand, swung her arm back and delivered a loud slap. When she laid her eyes on the red mark she'd left on her cousin's cheek, Bellatrix felt a rush of savage pleasure.

"I hate you!" was the last thing she shouted.

Then she ran, ran away as fast as she could, not only becaue she was late for Potions, but because at the moment she wished to never catch sight of Sirius again.

_Would you mind if I killed you?  
Would you mind if I tried to?  
'Cause you have turned into my worst enemy  
You carry hate that I feel  
It's over now  
What have you done?_

_

* * *

_**Next Chapter:** Bellatrix is a rather vindictive person. Poor Sirius. 


End file.
